Second Friday the 13th

For those among you who are superstitious, I am offering my commiseration as I have to remind you that we are Friday the 13th of March. And, to make matters worse, we are the second Friday of the year already. And, to make it even worse, 2026 has three Friday the 13th. For those among you suffering from triskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, or both (I guess it's always both when you have such phobia), well, this is not your year. But on the plus side, after today, there will be only one Friday the 13th to go. For me, any Friday the 13th is just like any other Friday. I love when evening comes, and it is pretty much the weekend, however, it's a day out at the madhouse, whatever the date Friday falls on.

Friday the 13th

Today, we are Friday the 13th of August. It is a banal statement and I am not superstitious, but just because I like folklore (even when I don't believe in its veracity, I thought I would mention it here. It is also the one and only Friday the 13th of 2021, so those suffering from paraskevidekatraiaphobia should find this year rather relaxing. For those sufferent from triskaidekaphobia, 2021 is just as scary as any other year. If any of you suffering from either phobias read this post, please leave a comment.

No number 13

Here is a funny little detail I noticed recently about the business park where I work: there is no number 13. There are about twenty offices, but none of them is at number 13. I wonder who was suffering of triskaidekaphobia when they were allocating address numbers to the buildings. It's a small business park, and a fairly young one I'd say, it's as bland and anonymous as a business park can be, yet it has that peculiarity. Which may not be a peculiarity. For all I know it's something common to many business parks here and elsewhere.

Le 3e vendredi 13

Nous sommes un vendredi 13 aujourd'hui, mais pas n'importe quel vendredi 13: c'est le troisième de l'année! Pour ceux qui souffrent de triskaïdékaphobie, ça doit être l'horreur. En plus, c'est le vendredi 13 novembre. Juste pour toute cette association symbolique, je me devais de le souligner.

Number 13

We are the 13th of October, so for tonight's countdown to Halloween's post, I have decided to share with you a ghost story by M.R James, aptly named Number 13. It is set in a hotel/inn in Viborg, Denmark, where like in many hotels, the room number 13 does not exist. Or does it? Because slowly, the narrator slowly discovers that there is a sinister presence in the hotel, barely perceptible at first, and a room that should not exist appears in the middle of the night. Like all of M.R. James story, the seemingly mundane situation of the beginning gradually disintegrate until the gruesome climax. Because when the ghost reveals itself (sort of), he is often gruesome in the stories of M.R. James.

As for his own Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You My Lad, another favourite of mine (read more about it here), it is a horror story set in a hotel, a fairly common trope in ghost stories. You can read about another such ghost story in a hotel setting on this post from last year. More than triskaidekaphobia (the fear of number 13), it is claustrophobia that is featured here. The bedroom of the protagonist literally shrinks as evil manifests itself. But I don't want to give too much away. You can read it on this website. If you are feeling lazy, you can also watch on YouTube the BBC adaptation from 2006, which I enjoyed too. But I would recommend that you read first the original, which is far superior, especially the climax. And please comment and tell me what you think.

Question existentielle (113)

Vous connaissez ce terme? C'est la phobie du chiffre 13. Ce billet est la 113e question existentielle. Alors j'ai décidé de poser cette question existentielle:

-Est-ce que le chiffre 13 vous fait peur?

Non, sérieusement, je me pose la question.