The fear of Friday the 13th may be a familiar workplace anxiety, but the economic damage attributed to it rests on a shaky foundation. A widely quoted claim that superstition on the date costs the United States between $800 million and $900 million in lost productivity each year traces back to psychotherapist Donald Dossey, who in 2006 put forward that figure. The Wall Street Journal later questioned whether his methodology supported such a conclusion.
The fear itself has a name. Dossey coined the term paraskevidekatriaphobia, a combination of the Greek words for Friday and thirteen, to describe the apprehension many people feel about the combination. The origins of the superstition are uncertain. Commentators have pointed to Norse mythology, in which the trickster god Loki was said to have been the thirteenth guest at a banquet, and to accounts of the Last Supper, in which Judas was seated as the thirteenth figure. Neither explanation is firmly established.
Historical events are sometimes linked to the date as well. In 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the detention of the Knights Templar on a Friday the 13th, an episode often cited as an origin of the belief. In 1907, the novelist Thomas William Lawson published a book in which a market crash takes place on the date, adding a financial dimension to its reputation. Whether any of these accounts explains the superstition is open to debate.
The calendar itself offers little reason for alarm. Friday the 13th occurs roughly every 212.35 days, and under the 400-year Gregorian cycle it falls on a Friday the 13th at a fairly regular rate. In 2026 the date falls three times, a pattern that the reporting notes is not unusual. Businesses that worry about the date may therefore be responding to a calendar rhythm rather than to any measurable change in behavior.
Consumer behavior around the date has been studied with mixed results. A 2007 USA Today and Gallup poll found that 13 percent of respondents said they would mind staying on a hotel's 13th floor. Real estate data from suggested that apartments on a 13th floor sell about 18 percent less often than comparable units, and that apartment sales overall fall by about 19 percent on any 13th of the month. In Manhattan and Brooklyn, fewer than 5 percent of mid- and high-rise condominiums have a 13th floor at all, which indicates that developers and buyers have long been influenced by the superstition in building design.
The date has also become a commercial and entertainment franchise. Sean S. Cunningham's slasher film series began in 1980, and the hockey-masked character Jason Voorhees became one of the genre's best-known figures. A new Friday the 13th film, directed by Steve Miner, is scheduled to return in 2027. The project followed a rights dispute that was settled among Victor Miller, Cunningham's company and A24, which also produced the prequel series Crystal Lake, now streaming on Peacock. A 2017 Friday the 13th video game was delisted on December 31, 2023, after its intellectual property rights expired.
Retailers have also used the date for promotions. The streaming and media retailer Gruv is running a Black Friday sale offering three films for $33, with more than 240 films included, and select 4K titles reduced to $12.99 across 49 titles. New customers can apply the code FIRSTGRUV15 for an extra 15 percent off. For employers, the practical message from the available evidence is that the economic weight of Friday the 13th is far less settled than its reputation suggests.