spook vs startle

spook

verb
  • To frighten or make nervous (especially by startling). 

  • To become frightened (by something startling). 

  • To haunt. 

noun
  • A ghost or phantom. 

  • An undercover agent or spy. 

  • A hobgoblin. 

  • A scare or fright. 

  • A psychiatrist. 

  • A player who engages in hole carding by attempting to glimpse the dealer's hole card when the dealer checks under an ace or a 10 to see if a blackjack is present. 

  • A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct. 

startle

verb
  • To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise. 

  • To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start. 

noun
  • A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger. 

How often have the words spook and startle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )