Afraid of Friday the 13th? Here’s why it’s considered bad luck — and why you don’t need to be spooked

Suffering from paraskevidekatriaphobia (a fear of Friday the 13th)? Well, you can put your mind at ease, because Friday the 13th doesn’t actually bring bad luck.
Friday the 13th’s reputation for misfortune dates back centuries, and superstitions about Friday the 13th live on in modern day, propelled by Stephen King’s horror writing, a slasher film franchise and Americans’ general aversion to the number 13, according to researchers.
There is a Friday the 13th coming this week. Here’s a look at the history of the superstition — and why there’s no reason to be spooked.
Superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th may be rooted in the Bible
At The Last Supper, 13 people were seated at the table — Jesus Christ and his 12 disciples. The 13th guest to arrive at the table is said to be Judas, the man who betrayed Christ, per the BBC. The Last Supper was on a Thursday. On Friday, Christ was crucified.
“So 13 is associated with that terrible event. And Friday, the 13th you get a double whammy. You get both of these elements coming together: the taboo against 13, and the crucifixion, which was on a Friday,” Phil Stevens, a retired anthropology professor from the University at Buffalo, told USA Today last year.
Friday is known to many modern people as the start of the weekend and therefore the best day of the week. Songs have been written hailing Friday as the gateway to a couple days off work (”Friday I’m in Love,” “Friday on My Mind,” “Finally Friday”).
But Friday once had a dark reputation. During the 19th century, Friday was considered the unluckiest day of the week, per the BBC. It earned the nickname “Hangman Friday” because those condemned to death were typically hanged on Friday.
“In nineteenth-century America, there was a widespread belief that Friday was an unlucky time to start a new piece of work or to embark on any ventures,” per “Executing Magic in the Modern Era: Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine.”
“In sympathetic association with the fate of the criminal on the gallows, any work begun (on Friday) would never be finished.”
During her rise to stardom, Taylor Swift touted why 13 is her lucky number —a number considered by many to signify bad luck.
“I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro,” Swift said, per Fox News. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.”
Many Americans cannot get behind Swift’s lucky number 13.
An estimated 10% of Americans suffer from triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13, per History.
Additionally, more than 80% of high-rise buildings in the United States omit the 13th floor. Hotels, hospitals and airports avoid using the number for rooms and gates, as well.
“It’s funny because except for one or two hotels I’ve worked for in my 20-plus years in the industry, there is never a 13th floor,” Grand Hyatt Nashville Area general manager Marc Sternagel told USA Today last year. “Some people take it to an extreme. One hotel in New York City didn’t even have 13 as a room number. Here we do, but the floor itself is gone. Just to make sure we don’t freak anybody out.”
Although fear of the number 13 is widespread in the U.S., data shows there is no real backing for the phobia.
“No data exists, and will never exist, to confirm that the number 13 is an unlucky number,” said Igor Radun of the Human Factors and Safety Behavior Group at the University of Helsinki’s Institute of Behavioural Sciences in Finland, per Live Science. “There is no reason to believe that any number would be lucky or unlucky.”
No, Friday the 13th is just as unlucky (or lucky) as any other day.
A 2015 study from Kyklos, a peer-reviewed journal of social sciences, set out to uncover if there is any truth behind Friday the 13th myths.
Researchers studied quality of life outcomes of individuals born on the 13th of the month or Friday the 13th. They were compared to roughly 120,000 individuals born on the 12th or 14th. Researchers looked at each individual’s probability of being employed, hourly wage and probability of remaining single.
Were those born on Friday the 13th more unlucky?
“We found no effect,” said Jan Fidrmuc, one of the study’s authors, per The New York Times. “There is nothing to the superstition.”