Why Friday 13th is considered unlucky and the bizarre origins behind the superstition
If you’ve woken up with an unsettling sense of dread, then it could be because today is Friday 13th, considered by many to be unlucky.
This year, we’ve had three Friday 13th - the first in February, then March and now November - and if you’re superstitious then you may feel like hiding away until the day is over.
Fear of Friday 13th is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia and it is thought that around one in five UK adults admit to suffering from it to some degree.
Unfortunately, with at least one Friday 13th every single year, due to how the calendar works, it's something paraskevidekatriaphobia sufferers just have to get used to.
Why is Friday 13th considered to be unlucky?
There are a few theories on what lead to Friday 13th being considered unlucky.
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One of the main explanations comes from Norse mythology and a story in which 12 gods held a dinner party in Valhalla which trickster god Loki rocked up to uninvited - making himself the 13th guest and setting off a chain of events that ended with the death of Balder.
Another leading theory relates to Christianity and Judas Iscariot being the 13th guest at the Last Supper the night before Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday.
But while these, and other theories, have been bandied out for years, the true origin of why it’s considered an unlucky date remains a bit of a mystery.
According to experts, while both Friday and the number 13 had been considered bad luck, it wasn’t until around the 19th century that they became referred to in conjunction with one another.
Another spooky layer was added into the superstition in 1980 with the introduction of the slasher flick Friday the 13th, which saw a group of teens terrorised by an unknown killer while attempting to reopen an abandoned summer camp that hid a tragic past.
The movie was a huge success and was one of the trailblazers of the slasher genre. It’s success meant that Friday the 13th spawned ten sequels and a reboot in 2009 as well as new spin-off prequel series Crystal Lake.
It also did little to ease anyone’s fears about the date.
Friday 13th does have some grim history
Interestingly there have been some major tragic world events that happened to take place on Friday 13th.
On Friday 13th February this year, three people were killed in an avalanche in France, while on Friday 13th March 2000, the US declared the Covid-19 a national emergency, promoting lockdowns.
On Friday 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a rock off the coast of Italy, resulting in the death of 32 people, and Friday 12 September 1996 was the day rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and killed.
Of course, you can choose pretty much any date and you’re bound to find some bad news that coincided with it but nonetheless the superstition persists.
Interestingly, Friday 13th November 2026 (AKA today) was also the date chosen by scientist Professor Heinz von Foerster as the exact day humans will die out as we were all ‘squeezed to death’.
Thankfully that doesn’t seem to have been the case, but there’s still a few more hours left of the day… So who knows?
Topics: Lifestyle
Claire Reid
