Fright night is just around the corner.

This year, Friday the 13th happens to fall in October.

The history of Friday the 13th goes far back. The legends and rumors surrounding the day fill people’s minds with terrifying thoughts. Even though the day is usually associated with horror, some people choose to celebrate.

Friday the 13th is feared, highly anticipated and ignored all at the same time. Until 2020, this day will happen twice. The years following shortly after will only have one. Friday has been looked at as unlucky since the middle ages. The unlucky 13 came from this time as well, being the number of people in the room with Jesus the night before he died. In the 19th century, the two were paired together. 

The pairing of Friday and 13 came from the death of Gioachino Rossini who was an Italian composer. Making the day even more dreaded, the novel Friday, the Thirteenth, by Thomas Lawson has a Wall Street panic happening on Friday the 13th.

After these two were paired together, the superstitions surrounding the two became stronger. “I was wearing a shirt that said lucky and I took it off and changed because I was scared it would be bad luck,” said Brooklyn Pennington, senior. The number 13 became paired with the Devil. Many think that the Devil has power over this number. With people like Charles Manson and Jack The Ripper having 13 letters in their name, the number was even associated with serial killers. It’s believed that if your name is associated with this number, you should stay inside on when the 13th falls on a Friday.

Staying home is also recommended to all drivers. Studies have shown that the percentage of car crashes can go up on this day. The crash rate has reached up to 52 percent higher than in the week before when looking at death by car crashes in hospitals across the country. The British Medical Journal gives the advice of just staying home on this day.

There has been an old superstition circling around the number 13 and dinner. If 13 people dine together, then it is said that one person dining with them will die, most likely within a year of the dinner. This superstition originates from the death of Jesus. With him dining with 12 disciples the night before his death, many believe that he was the one out of the 13 to be unlucky.

It seems as if Friday the 13th is a time for staying in bed all day, just to be safe. With all of the things to avoid, going out in the real world seems impossible. With the day already touching on the idea of death, going to a funeral on this day could mean you’re next according to legend. Another main area to avoid is the barber shop. Not to scare away your barber’s business, but with this day being unlucky you might want to wait to get the newest, trendiest hair cut.

The day is not all bad though. Check your local tattoo shop to get a $13 tattoo. The deal may leave you unlucky in the end with a tattoo that was supposed to look like Miley Cyrus and ended up looking like your niece’s painting on the first day of kindergarten. For some, this is the day that they wait on. For others, this is just a day. “It always has a vibe of being kinda freaky because of all the movies but I just take it as another day” said Jeremy Antle, junior.

No matter how the day is looked at, this day will continue to stick out.