IT’S FRIDAY THE 13TH, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
Friday the 13th comes but once or twice a year, give or take a calendar oddity. It’s been 10 long months since the last one, and given this Friday’s proximity to Halloween, it’s only right to go heavy on the creepiness of the occasion.
Herewith are a few suggestions to add a chill to those unseasonably warm October days.
Dare you to binge late at night
“Lore” is a podcast phenomenon of stories that embraces its motto (“The scariest stories are true”). Get ready for more chills: six episodes of a video version will debut on Friday the 13th. The podcast is written, hosted and produced by Aaron Mahnke, who adds live action and animation to some of the creepiest tales. “Lore” is available on Amazon Prime Video. Press materials actually listed “Robert the Doll” as an actor in one of the photographs — you cannot get creepier than that. Seriously, just at this little guy.
’Tis the season for inky, dinky spiders
Pittsburgh Tattoo Company wants you to get inked on Friday the 13th.
For the fourth consecutive year, the shop on Smithfield Street will have artists standing by its walk-in special: $13 for a small, simple tattoo of spooky design. A mandatory tip of $7 makes the cost a straight Jackson.
Six artists and one piercer (the one-day special goes for that as well) will be on hand beginning at noon. Although the event ends at 7, clients will not be accepted that late to closing.
Last year’s event drew 300 people: that’s a lot of coffins, black cats, pumpkins and skulls. The actual designs were to be revealed on the 13th.
Take that Halloween costume for a test drive
“Mad Science” at the Carnegie Science Center gets even madder when you add whiskey and haunted house attractions to this adults-only event. From 6-10 p.m., the Science Center is home to a special effects makeup demonstration from ScareHouse and “Face Off” artist Jordan Patton, as well as creepy comedy, karaoke, a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” medley and Wigle Whiskey-fueled libations.
Guests must show ID at the door for this 21+ event and tickets are $12 advance and $17 on site.
Simply batty
Not-so-scary but spooky nonetheless, is the “Very Zooperstitious” overnight family feature at The Pittsburgh Zoo Friday. Children ages 6-12 accompanied by an adult and see some real bats and creatures that go bump in the night, from 6 p.m.-9 a.m. Tickets are $40 each but members get a discount. For more information and registration go to PittsburghZoo.org.
No trip to Crystal Lake this year, guys
A reboot of the iconic slasherfest, “Friday the 13th,” was to be released this month on, of course, Friday. Production was to begin last March but Paramount pulled the plug in February. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio might have given in to fears of its own: a sequel to “The Ring” did dismally at the box office and it became spooked about losing more money on a horror franchise.
Still, Jason Voorhees showed up in a new video game version this summer by Gun Media Holdings. That’s the (good?) news. The bad? It got middling reviews on sites such as IGN.com and GameSpot for being “buggy.” Also, the players rarely got to be Jason. So, yeah.
Target of the near-Earth asteroid?
In case you like to start your worrying — or excitement — early, astronomers have calculated the near-Earth asteroid dubbed Apophis (also known as 2004 MN4) will speed past our
planet on Friday, April 13, 2029, at just 18,600 miles away. To put that into perspective, the moon is 238,900 miles away and satellites orbit at a distance of 22,300 miles away. At one point in 2004, scientists at NASA’s Near Earth Object Program calculated a 1-in-60 chance that the asteroid would collide with Earth on that date. Instead, NASA figured out that “what we’re going to have is an eye-popping close encounter,” according to science.nasa.gov.
“At closest approach, the asteroid will shine like a third magnitude star, visible to the unaided eye from Africa, Europe and Asia — even through city lights,” says Jon Giorgini of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Close approaches by objects as large as 2004 MN4 are currently thought to occur at 1,000-year intervals, on average.”
This happened on Friday the 13th
Suspensemeister Alfred Hitchcock was born on a Friday the 13th — Aug. 13, 1899, to be exact. But a true horror story began 45 years ago, on Oct. 13, 1972. An Air Force F-227 airplane carrying 45 people, including a Uruguayan rugby team en route to Chile, crashed in the Andes Mountains.
Those who were not killed immediately or by a later avalanche, recounted how it was necessary to eat deceased passengers. The journey, recounted in a book and movie titled, “Alive,” ended two months later with 16 survivors.
Rap fans will recall Tupac Shakur succumbed to gunshot wounds on Sept. 13, 1996.
Also, this
On Jan. 13, 2012, the cruise ship, Costa Concordia, hit rocks along the Tuscan coast and flipped onto its side. With more than 4,200 passengers and crew, 32 died amid charges of reckless behavior by its captain, Francesco Schettino.
Capt. Schettino would eventually be convicted of manslaughter and abandonment of his ship, and sentenced to 16 years by an Italian court. During the trial, his attorney, Domenico Pepe, noted that when the ship was christened in 2006, the champagne bottle would not break.
“Everything about this ship and this process since then has been a mystery so far.”
Sure, blame it on superstition.