Did you wake up today? Feeling frazzled? Were you in *** beastly mood? Well, don't call the doctor just yet. This bug will be over by midnight. You're suffering from calendar itis the culprit Friday the 13th. Fear of the number 13. Believe it or not, it cost this country some $1 billion every year due to canceled travel plans or missed work. Even in Boston, some of the finer hotels pass over the 13 th floor or don't have rooms with 13 in them. What is everyone so afraid of bad luck? Says Boston college history professor and in search of Dracula author Raymond mcnally, the number 13 possesses *** long dark past. Most people think immediately of the last supper. And Judas Iscariot who was the 13th Apostle at that dinner and who was the traitor and the evil person. So that's bad news. Hence, at *** dinner table, you never have *** dinner party for 13 people. It's just not done. It's taboo and Friday is just as cursed. That's when Jesus Christ's passion occurred and when he was crucified. So it's *** bad day. Supposedly Friday was the day that Eve gave Adam the apple to eat. That started all the trouble. So Friday the 13th is not *** good combo says mcnally, it's double jeopardy as it were. It's *** bad day to start. You shouldn't start anything, you should delay everything, any projects you have. I'm all for that. No surprise. That superstition thrives in this country says mcnally, after all, we dwell in *** society Bewitched by horror movies, music and mystery books. They all aim to startle and shock to rivet and rattle. Most people like to be frightened under controlled conditions. You see in *** movie is if it gets too much, you can close your eyes and or turn away if you're reading *** book and it gets too much for you, you can put it down, you're in control. But as Boston Globe film critic Jay Carr adds because our culture oozes with blood and guts. Scaring is no easy task. Frankenstein and Dracula have turned into Saturday morning Cartoon Figures. We see them on cereal boxes so you have to keep ratcheting this stuff up. Keep the pressure on for blood rising. Says actor Kane Hotter who plays Jason in the Friday the 13th movie series. His movie motto as you might expect, no guts, no gory. I mean glory. You know, everybody likes to get the, the, the build up of the suspense and then the scare and the kind of the release of tension. And I just think it's ***, it's *** fun time. Hotter might think of it as just fun. But parapsychologist Rafael Bibo takes spooks seriously. I definitely believe that the spirits and ghosts do exist Bibo's business busting ghosts. Although his main line of work is civil engineering today, he's nosing around the John Stone Inn in Ashland, supposedly *** long time haunt for the ghost of John Stone who was said to have murdered. One of his guests also said to be seen the image of *** little girl who was killed by *** passing train on the railroad tracks next door. I usually like to just walk around casually walk through the place and allow myself to be receptive to uh any feelings that I could have. And nine times out of 10, there are certain I call them like hot spots. Somebody may call them cold spots. If I pass through one of those spots, you have *** tingling sensation that comes up through the spine and you feel like like goose bumps that come on your hands and you know that you hit something they wanna communicate. They want some uh uh notification. Hey, look, we're here. The scary part mortals bibo says is that we don't know how to react towards something. We can't explain. It's the unknown factor that you can't see. If fear of the unknown. There are many things that we don't understand out there in the universe and anybody who says they understand everything is probably *** fool. We don't know many of the answers to the basic questions. Science can't tell us the meaning of life. So there's an area where science has no answers and into that area comes superstition still mcnally says that science and history offer reasonable explanations behind many mysteries and superstitions. But if all this talk is still making you tense fear, not there's always tomorrow the 14th, right?
What's behind the fear and superstitions on Friday the 13th?
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Updated: 12:33 PM CDT Jun 12, 2025
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Friday the 13th brings along a slew of myths and superstitions.Some people sidestep ladders and dodge black cats. Others are left wondering what all the fuss is about.This year we have just one Friday the 13th — June 13. We don't see another until 2026, when there are three, so mark your calendars for Feb. 13, March 13 and November 13.Where did the hysteria come fromSome believe the superstitious attitude surrounding the date came about during the Middle Ages. Other theories claim its foundations stretch from Biblical times, originating from the story of Jesus’ last supper where there were 13 individuals present, Judas being the 13th guest.Textually, one of the earliest references to date comes from Henry Sutherland Edwards’ 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini who died on Friday the 13th, writing, “… he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away.”In Thomas W. Lawson’s sensational 1907 novel, “Friday, the 13th,” the fear of the date is amplified when a broker takes advantage of the superstition to create Wall Street panic.Then, there’s Dan Brown’s iconic novel “The Da Vinci Code” wherein events that occurred on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, is credited as the birth date of the superstition. Thousands of Knights Templar were arrested at the direction of King Philip IV of France due to suspicions that their secret initiation rituals made them “enemies of the faith.”Then, there’s the slasher films. Horror fans everywhere love to be spooked by hockey-mask-wearing, machete-wielding Jason Vorhees, the killer lead character in at least a dozen "Friday the 13th" films.There's a word for thatFear of Friday the 13th has so many spooked, there’s now a word for it – friggatriskaidekaphobia. Etymologically speaking, Frigg is the Norse goddess whom Friday was named after. Another name for it is paraskevidekatriaphobia, loosely based on the Greek word for Friday. But some even fear the number itself, known as triskaidekaphobia. And no, we’re not just slamming on our keyboards.Thirteen has been considered unlucky for many, many years, completely nosediving from the previous number – 12 is often seen as "completeness" and a state of being “whole” (12 months of the year, 12 hours on the clock, etc.)The mythsThere’s so many myths and legends surrounding Friday the 13th. For example, some of the most common myths include bad luck if you walk under a ladder, pass a black cat, or, more extensively, have 7 years of bad luck if you shatter a mirror. More morbidly, if you pass a funeral procession, you’ll be the next to die (or so they say.)However, Friday the 13th isn’t necessarily the unluckiest day of the year for everyone. In Italy, Friday the 17th is the day to fear, with 13 being considered a lucky number. In Spain, not Friday but Tuesday the 13th the unluckiest day.Checking the calendar for future Friday the 13thsConsider yourself warned: there's just one Friday the 13th in 2025 but three in 2026. The next time a single year has three isn't until 2037.Here's the full list of Friday the 13ths through 2030:Friday, June 13, 2025Friday, Feb. 13, 2026Friday, March 13, 2026Friday, Nov. 13, 2026Friday, Aug. 13, 2027 Friday, Oct. 13, 2028Friday, April 13, 2029Friday, July 13, 2029Friday, Sept. 13, 2030Friday, Dec. 13, 2030
DES MOINES, Iowa — Friday the 13th brings along a slew of myths and superstitions.
Some people sidestep ladders and dodge black cats. Others are left wondering what all the fuss is about.
This year we have just one Friday the 13th — June 13. We don't see another until 2026, when there are three, so mark your calendars for Feb. 13, March 13 and November 13.
Where did the hysteria come from
Some believe the superstitious attitude surrounding the date came about during the Middle Ages. Other theories claim its foundations stretch from Biblical times, originating from the story of Jesus’ last supper where there were 13 individuals present, Judas being the 13th guest.
Textually, one of the earliest references to date comes from Henry Sutherland Edwards’ 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini who died on Friday the 13th, writing, “… he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away.”
In Thomas W. Lawson’s sensational 1907 novel, “Friday, the 13th,” the fear of the date is amplified when a broker takes advantage of the superstition to create Wall Street panic.
Then, there’s Dan Brown’s iconic novel “The Da Vinci Code” wherein events that occurred on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, is credited as the birth date of the superstition. Thousands of Knights Templar were arrested at the direction of King Philip IV of France due to suspicions that their secret initiation rituals made them “enemies of the faith.”
Then, there’s the slasher films. Horror fans everywhere love to be spooked by hockey-mask-wearing, machete-wielding Jason Vorhees, the killer lead character in at least a dozen "Friday the 13th" films.
There's a word for that
Fear of Friday the 13th has so many spooked, there’s now a word for it – friggatriskaidekaphobia. Etymologically speaking, Frigg is the Norse goddess whom Friday was named after. Another name for it is paraskevidekatriaphobia, loosely based on the Greek word for Friday. But some even fear the number itself, known as triskaidekaphobia. And no, we’re not just slamming on our keyboards.
Thirteen has been considered unlucky for many, many years, completely nosediving from the previous number – 12 is often seen as "completeness" and a state of being “whole” (12 months of the year, 12 hours on the clock, etc.)
The myths
There’s so many myths and legends surrounding Friday the 13th. For example, some of the most common myths include bad luck if you walk under a ladder, pass a black cat, or, more extensively, have 7 years of bad luck if you shatter a mirror. More morbidly, if you pass a funeral procession, you’ll be the next to die (or so they say.)
However, Friday the 13th isn’t necessarily the unluckiest day of the year for everyone. In Italy, Friday the 17th is the day to fear, with 13 being considered a lucky number. In Spain, not Friday but Tuesday the 13th the unluckiest day.
Checking the calendar for future Friday the 13ths
Consider yourself warned: there's just one Friday the 13th in 2025 but three in 2026. The next time a single year has three isn't until 2037.
Here's the full list of Friday the 13ths through 2030:
- Friday, June 13, 2025
- Friday, Feb. 13, 2026
- Friday, March 13, 2026
- Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
- Friday, Aug. 13, 2027
- Friday, Oct. 13, 2028
- Friday, April 13, 2029
- Friday, July 13, 2029
- Friday, Sept. 13, 2030
- Friday, Dec. 13, 2030
