Friday the 13th

Are you superstitious? Days like today are practically made for authors and screenplay writers to grab onto and make some magic, especially if their genre falls in the horror, supernatural, or thriller areas. I suppose numerologists might appreciate it, too.

According to the research I’ve done, the fear or bad luck associated with Friday the 13th didn’t start until the late 1800s. Prior to that, there were superstitions around Friday or the number 13, but not necessarily the combination.

Do you like when authors include stuff like this in a book? While writing The Rideshare Chronicles: Volume I, I took notice of certain dates, such as April Fool’s Day, but didn’t want to concentrate too much on those things. Certain holidays or dates that stand out are mentioned, for the purpose of furthering the story, but not the point of going down the rabbit hole.

Personally, I wouldn’t say I’m superstitious, but certain dates, like Friday the 13th, do stand out to me. I also like to push the envelope, though. I’d have no issues staying on the thirteenth floor of a supposed haunted hotel or anything like that. I wouldn’t rearrange plans because of a date or number, unlike some notable people who refused to travel on Friday the 13th out of fear.

I do believe that numbers can hold a certain significance for us, and the more energy we give that number and that thought process, the more likely we’ll receive the same or exaggerated energy back. In other words, if you expect something to go wrong because it’s Friday the 13th, you’ll recognize the things that you perceive are going wrong far more than you will recognize the things that are going right.

The same holds true for attributing things that go wrong with the date, rather than simply seeing them as misfortunate events like on any other day. Unless, that is, you are accustomed to having completely perfect days all the time except on Friday the 13th.

When I was younger, I enjoyed the marathons of horror films that always seemed to play on those days. I think it’s even more fitting when it falls in the fall, due to the colder weather and Halloween being only a couple of weeks past.

Speaking of horror films, my favorite movie when I was a toddler was Poltergeist, though I still don’t understand why I was watching it at two years old. (I asked my mom why I was watching it then and she laughed, then said, “I don’t know. Because you loved it.”)

I have always laughed during certain scenes that scare other people. I make jokes about many of the things going on. Recently, I’ve been trying to spend more quality time with my kids, who are young adults. My younger son likes to pick weird horror films to watch on our nights. We giggle through most of it and discuss the extremely unlikely scenarios.

I hope your Friday the 13th goes well today. Please hit the comment button and share your thoughts, stories, traditions, and what how you’re spending today.