It’s my birthday today, which would be entirely unremarkable – except that it falls on Friday the 13th. Cue the ominous music!

As someone who investigates paranormal claims and writes critically about spooky beliefs, I’ve developed a soft spot for dates like this. Not because I believe in cosmic misfortune, but because these moments act as cultural Rorschach tests: they reveal how people interpret coincidence, risk, and fear. Friday the 13th isn’t just a date – it’s a (broken) mirror reflecting our psychology back at us.

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We worry about what feels risky, not what is risky

Superstitions are more than just silly folklore – they influence how we behave and what we fear. And often, what we fear most has very little to do with reality.

Take flying, for example. It’s one of the safest forms of transport available. In Great Britain, there were 5 road fatalities per billion vehicle‑miles travelled in 2023, whereas UK aviation data reports fewer than 0.05 deaths per billion kilometres flown in the same period.

This means you’re far more likely to be killed driving to the airport than flying on the plane itself. Or, to put it another way: if you took a flight every day for the next 200 years, you’d still be safer than doing the school run by car each morning.

But statistics don’t always win against instinct. We’re not wired to calculate odds – we’re wired to react to stories, feelings, and mental shortcuts. These are called heuristics, and they explain a lot about why Friday the 13th still gives people the creeps.

Here are just a few of the mental habits that feed superstition:

Availability heuristic

We judge risk based on how easily we can recall an example. news stories, anecdotes from friends, horror films, and creepy coincidences come to mind quickly, so they feel more common than they are. This is especially important to consider in moments like now, when news of a tragic air crash in India on June 12th 2025 dominates the headlines. Events like this are emotionally vivid and immediate, and they overpower the statistical reality. Flying remains incredibly safe, but our brains don’t measure risk with a calculator – they use whatever’s most memorable and the information most readily available to us in the moment.

Patternicity (apophenia)

We’re brilliant at spotting patterns, even when none exist. That’s why people think strange things happen more often during full moons (spoiler: they don’t), or that Friday the 13th brings bad luck. When one weird thing happens on that date, we remember it. When nothing happens, we tend to forget.

Affect heuristic

This is our tendency to let emotion guide our perception of risk. If something feels scary, we assume it’s dangerous – even when we know better. It’s why walking under a ladder gives people the creeps, or why handling an old Ouija board feels like you’re asking for trouble. Our brains use gut feeling as a shortcut for decision-making. The problem? Gut feelings are easily manipulated by mood, context, or creepy soundtracks. It’s all about the vibes, and when they feel off – we’re probably opting out even if it makes no rational sense.

Neglect of base rates

This happens when we ignore the actual odds of something happening and focus instead on a dramatic example. Take shark attacks, for instance. The chance of being bitten by a shark is vanishingly small – especially in the UK where only 10 cases are on record since the 1500s, but the idea sticks because it’s so cinematic. One headline, one movie, and suddenly paddling in the sea feels like tempting death. Our brains forget the base rate (the real-world probability) and fixate on the story. That’s why people avoid swimming after watching Jaws, but don’t think twice about texting while driving (which is 2022 alone killed 22 people and injured at least 650 more.)

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So I’m leaning in – because why not?

During my life so far I’ve had 5 birthday’s that fell on Friday 13th and I’ll hopefully have a few more, too. Since there’s no actual bad luck to worry about, I’ve decided to celebrate my next Friday-the-13th birthday in style. It’ll be on June 13th 2031, and I’m already planning a gloriously unlucky tea party.

Thirteen guests will enter under a ladder. There’ll be mirrors to smash on arrival, black cats roaming freely (ideally in little paper hats), and salt spilled with theatrical flair. Maybe it will be on a stage somewhere and we’ll talk about Macbeth. Umbrellas will be opened indoors, new shoes placed proudly on the table, and cake served off a Ouija board – because if superstition says don’t, I say do, and then do it again with jam.

Once you understand how your brain builds fear out of feelings, patterns, and stories, the superstition starts to fall apart. Friday the 13th becomes just another day – one made interesting not by luck or curses, but by how we respond to the myths we all carry in our cultural and social foundations.

The universe is weird enough without cursed numbers so I’ve decided to make it just another excuse for cake. Who’s with me?

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