[ELI5] How/why—psychologically—are little children so scary when it comes to ghosts/horror-mediums when IRL kids are probably the least scary things on the planet?
In: Biology
It seems like you might not have had a kid tell you about their invisible friend and they are dead serious about it. Or had them tell you any of their random nonsense. ex. [https://twitter.com/advancebase/status/1194437674901393408](https://twitter.com/advancebase/status/1194437674901393408?lang=en)
But there’s also probably a bit of cuckoo effect thrown in. You’re trying to protect your/a small child but “ah, it’s actually a ghost!” Similarly it gives the protagonists a reason to let a potential threat into their social circle/space.
Additionally, the audience “least expects” a child to be the largest potential threat(, and it would be surprising if it weren’t a trope). It subverts expectations. It just doesn’t work the same way if it’s cliche. It was probably super great the first dozen times.
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