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The superstitious origins of Friday the 13th, or paraskevidekatriaphobia, are not entirely clear.
Many of the theories date back to times well before Jason Voorhees donned a hockey mask and started slashing up victims at Crystal Lake.
Some experts believe the fear of the date is Biblical in nature, originating from the story of Jesus' last supper and crucifixion" in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.
Others claim Friday, Oct. 13 was the date Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar in 1307.
In more modern times, Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel "Friday, the Thirteenth," published in 1907, contributed to disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
The next Friday the 13th will take place in October.
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