Why do we sometimes seek out and enjoy fear? Could it be that fear promotes sexual attraction? Is it a good idea to take your date to a horror movie or on a rollercoaster?

Carving pumpkins into Jack-o’-lanterns is dangerous and often leads to hand injuries. What’s the safest pumpkin carving tool to use this Halloween? How do you even determine this?

It’s Halloween! In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss why some houses are thought to be haunted, how situations that arouse fear also arouse other feelings, as well as how to use reanimated cadaver arms to study pumpkin carving best practices.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:35 Why are some houses haunted?
• 8:35 Sexy fear study
• 23:29 Pumpkin carving study
• 34:54 Let’s read some mail
• 40:04 What did you learn today, outro

Article links:

• Dutton & Aron, 1974. Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1975-03016-001
• Marcus et al., 2004. The safety of pumpkin carving tools. Preventive Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743504000374

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