Throughout history, disasters of astronomical proportions have taken place on one auspicious day -- Friday the Thirteenth. Shipwrecks, tsunamis, raging forest fires, brutal murderers, and horrifying accidents have all claimed victims on a day that many believe has been cursed since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The same serpent who tested the pair has become the dark figurehead of Friday the Thirteenth, feared by ancient cultures for centuries.

The fear of 13 seems like old suspicions that were born and died in ancient times, but as an asteroid headed straight for the Earth threatens to destroy civilization as we know it, the due date of Friday the Thirteenth might be more relevant than ever.

Episode Highlights:

• Shipwrecks, gruesome murders, natural disasters, and cannibalism: A trail of death through history
• The fear of Friday the 13th
• Numerology and mysticism
• Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and 13
• Symbolism in the works of Edgar Allan Poe
• Sinister snakes and dark evil in Ancient Egypt
• Flying asteroids to strike the Earth

Resources:

Friday the Thirteenth by Thomas William Lawson

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe

Enjoyed this episode? Please support the show by rating, reviewing, and subscribing on iTunes.

Please visit Pleasing Terrors, the podcast behind Old Charleston's best ghost tour, on Facebook and Twitter!