Friday the 13th: Top 10 Random Facts

Merriam-Webster defines triskaidekaphobia is “fear of the number 13.” And since today is the only Friday the 13th this year…well, why not have fun?

Okay, maybe this list will be a little different than the usual spiel about superstitions since it’s about ten random facts where 13 is centered in pop culture.

And no, that doesn’t count the news that there’s a hour-long show in development based on the original 1980 movie. Or so Deadline reported in April. The series will center around the horror at Crystal Lake since as Sean S. Cunningham puts it: “Jason Voorhees is synonymous with the genre and we plan to build on this legacy.” Good news to horror fans ever. Friday the 13th will either be the best thing ever or the best worst thing to hit the small screen.

Onto the list!

10. Charmed

In “From Fear to Eternity,” witches start to die through their very fears and the Charmed Ones have to figure out why. Plus, manage to not die of their own fears. Conquering fear is no joke when Barbas can manage to almost drown you in a badly designed 1990s shower stall. New twist to Hitchcock’s “you’ll never look at a shower the same way again.” Only 10 of the 13 were sacrificed so the Charmed Ones saved the day. Good triumphs evil, as Charmed did so well, but Barbas still comes back occasionally since it’s impossible to eliminate fear entirely. 

9. Warehouse 13

13 is in the title for SyFy’s Warehouse 13, where mysterious artifacts frequently go wonky and misfire for the team. All warehouses end badly, but 13 seems to always face some destruction at every turn. And it’s not always the fault of Mark Sheppard, for once!

8. 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

A short-run series where Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby’s nephew Scrappy-Doo, and a young Mexican con artist Flim-Flam must find and put unintentionally released ghosts and demons back into the Chest of Demons. Added bonus? You get Flim-Flam’s friend, a warlock named Vincent Van Ghoul. Van Ghoul is voiced by none other than the King of Scary Voice’s Vincent Price. (I have a soft spot for these since this is the Scooby I remember.)

Leaving a bit of fun for us, though, the last two ghosts were never caught due to network cancellation! I wonder what Mr. Price would have said then.

7. The Munsters

The 1960s brought us the creepy with the Addams Family, but it also turned Frankenstein and Dracula into in-laws when The Munsters hit the screen in 1964. And where does the family live? On the unluckiest of numbers: 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

6. Thir13een Ghosts

Thir13en Ghosts is pretty self-explanatory as far as a title goes. Thirteen ghosts and the world is saved from the big bads from the bowels of hell. Nothing ever quite goes that way, right? Turns out it’s better to not listen to evil humans bent on total destruction for the sake of it. Death, mayhem, pissed off spirits, and a father’s love create a strange gateway into hell.

5. A113

So a little scrounging found an interesting Easter egg for the Western animation fans. Throughout Disney, Pixar, the Simpsons, numerous television shows, you’ll find the number. But why? Apparently it’s the California Institute of the Arts’s first-year students’ graphic design and character animation studio. And everyone wants to talk about it.

Where will you find it? Take your pick! Every Pixar movie, The Iron Giant, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, The Avengers, Lilo & Stitch, PowerPuff Girls, American Dad!, Tiny Toons…the list goes on and on my friends. If you’re a Millennial? You’ve been exposed. Congrats!

Pixar’s WALL-E is a partial Leet speak. Not only that, the code to get home is A113. Talk about making the phrase pivotal.

4. Freaky Friday

You get to pick between being Lindsay Lohan or Jamie Lee Curtis in 2003 remake of the 1976 classic. The original has Jodie Foster playing Lohan’s role, but really, the pure cheese of the remake is worth so much more. A similar complaint and wish sets up the body switch, or maybe that’d be soul swap, in order to make sure the two characters understand the value of each other and the lives they lead. Totally schmoopy, but there’s some great lines. And it’s clear neither of these two will probably make another wish on Friday the 13th again. Ever.

3. Psych

USA’s Psych did an episode titled “Tuesday the 17th” about Friday the 13th. Shawn and Gus’s friend who calls them in for help is named Jason Cunningham, a callout to the movie series main character and one of the creators, when spooky things happen at Camp Tikihama. We all have a psycho running loose in our childhood past, right? Of course! And a profit-driven murder mystery camp turned real cutthroat adventures. Shawn and Gus always have all the fun.

2. Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters

With Ghostbusters 30th anniversary and the re-release in August, Slimer had to make it on the list, right? Who ya gonna call? Anyone who doesn’t live on the 13th floor! Buildings don’t usually have 13th floors based on superstitions-unless you’re visiting the psych ward at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. So in Slimer’s world it’s really not that surprising ghosts live on the haunted floor. 

1. Friday the 13th

Oh, like this wasn’t going to be on the list! I’m a fan of hockey and I still side-eye the mask and chainsaw. I still haven’t seen an entire movie, but I’m working on it. You know. From behind the couch. Never let it be said a mother’s love isn’t deep, either. Never, ever take away a mother’s kid. Or just..run. Besides, everyone deserves a little Alice Cooper in their lives, right?

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Deadline, Wikipedia.