Why Einstein referred to quantum entanglement as “spooky:” How encounters with spiritualism may have influenced his rhetoric

In a 1947 letter to Born, Einstein famously referred to quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.” In doing so, he advocated for local realism as a guiding principle of physics, and the avoidance of remote acausal connections. While clearly Einstein’s realistic determinism stemmed from many sources, we argue that his disdain for self-proclaimed spiritualist mediums, who often tried to conflate their sleight-of-hand with true science, may have influenced his rhetoric.