Is Friday the 13th unlucky? Personally I’ve always had particularly good days on days that are both Friday and the 13th. So I thought, in honour of such a glorious day (that seem to happen more often than I remember it happening) we would look at this mythical beast.
Friday the 13th: The Myth
It all started back when days were first given numbers and names – and then a sequence was born that would have us all forever trying to avoid the inevitability of Monday.
Our superstition surrounding Friday the 13th is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia* – I am so glad they didn’t call the movie that. I’d have been convinced it was something foreign with subtitles and sweeping landscapes, that I would probably have never bothered watching at all. Never mind any sequels.
Catholics believe Jesus was crucified on a Friday the 13th and, despite Friday not existing yet, it was also the day Christians say Eve tried the apple and got kicked out of Eden. There are said to be links to the Knights Templar and various things occurring on Friday the 13th, including their arrest (but this isn’t at all unusual for Friday nights is it?). Various authors have hung stories around the date, and there was this movie…something about evil stockbrokers crashing the stock market…
And to be fair some of the other days of the week hold their own superstitions in different countries, so it’s not just Friday, or even the 13th, that has superstition ladled on to it. In fact pick a date and a day and there’s probably someone somewhere with a superstitious belief about it.
Of course the number 13 has it’s own set of superstitions attached to it – whole streets are missing house number 13 because people thought it was unlucky, and some flights also avoid using a seat numbered 13.
Friday the 13th: The Legend
If you haven’t seen the movies, you should probably just go back to your kittens and cupcakes. Because soon there will be a TV series (how did they miss a release date like this?) to enthral us all.
And whilst some might recall that there was indeed a book and feature film about evil stockbrokers trying to take down the stock market -titled Friday the Thirteenth- it is not the one we all know and love.
12 (seems to be lacking somehow) movies in the franchise, novels, comics, games, and a dragons hoard of merchandise available, Jason isn’t going to be hanging up his machete any time soon.
This is the movie trailer not the TV series – don’t think that’s even started filming yet.
Friday the 13th: The Man
Well we all know him as Jason Voorhees, with his hockey mask and big knife he’s not one that goes unnoticed, and even those who’ve never seen the films know who he is. That is a special kind of standing out right there.
But who is he really? Who is the man behind the mask?
Jason lived with his mother, Pamela, at Camp Crystal Lake where she worked. One year, after endless bullying, Jason tried to prove that he could swim and jumped into the lake. Sadly he drowned. It was disastrous for the camp and it fell into disuse. A couple of attempts were made to reopen it. But alas, Jason’s poor distressed mother had not come to terms with her loss and took it out on the camps visitors.
Unfortunately she met a violent end before learning her son had somehow cheated death. Who continues her rampage and the legacy she built from his apparent drowning.
With one of the highest body counts in slasher history Jason is difficult to kill and, you know, keep dead.
Kate xxx
*Sources:
Horror and Fantasy Author – Also writing as K.T. McQueen. Love Western Horror, cowboy boots, my cactus Collin, & my Demon Cat.
Moths – I hate moths, the way they flutter at your face!
