As the members of the Mills community get ready for Halloween, there is another frightful date that has many students on edge: Friday the 13th.
This year Friday the 13th has fallen within October, the month of Halloween and haunts. For Mills students, this occurrence has stirred a range of emotions from celebratory to frightened.
For some at Mills, Friday the 13th is a recipe for bad luck. Combine the date with the fact that it is happening in October and these superstitious students are especially on edge. Many students, like Mills first-year Shantel Mercedes, make an active effort to avoid the day.
“I make sure I’m in my room,” Mercedes said, “I don’t go out anywhere.”
For fans of the frightening, Friday the 13th is a time of celebration and the fact that this unlucky day has landed in October has excited these students even more.
“When it does occur in October its extra spooky,” said Mills junior Madison Buhbe, “but in any month it’s extend-o Halloween and I’m into it.”
Some fans of this occasion develop their own traditions while others, like junior Cassidy Schmitt, just like to kick back and indulge in a frightening film.
“I like Halloween and horror related things,” Schmitt said. “It’s a good excuse to watch horror movies.”
Others have taken a neutral stance, treating the occasion as just another weekday.
“I don’t think it’s bad, I don’t think it’s good,” first-year Anne Preziosa said. “I just think it’s a day people have huge misconceptions about.”
In some cases, it’s the number 13 itself that scares them. Because the number 13 is often associated with bad luck, airports can refuse to have a 13th gate, buildings often skip the 13th floor, and it is very rare to find a “13th street” in American cities. The number 13 has fostered so much superstition that some people, like first-year Danneca Martinez, have developed triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13.
“I do not like the number 13 with a passion,” Martinez said. “I just have a really bad superstition with the number.”
It is also common for local tattoo parlors to host flash sales in honor of Friday the 13th, a popular tradition that some Mills students like to partake in. During the last Friday the 13th in January, Mills senior Allie Reitano got a Mad Hatter’s hat tattoo for 13 dollars during their sale.
“They’ll have a sheet of tattoos you can choose from for a significantly reduced price,” Reitano said. “As opposed to paying a hundred dollars I paid thirteen.
For one Mills student, sophomore Al Wong, this day has a special meaning as they were born on a Friday the 13th.
“I like to say it’s my lucky day,” Wong said.
