Some say today is an unlucky one...

With his sceptic’s hat firmly in place, Mark Evans looks at the myth of Friday the 13th, and meets some truly scared believers

WHEN asked about his fear of the number 13, Michael, an elderly gentleman from Kilworth, in North Cork, says, “I tell people that I suffer from triskadekaphobia. Triska is three, deka is 10 and phobia is mad.”

Of course, he also hates Friday the 13th and, while you won’t find him out and about on that date, he doesn’t go to the extremes that he used to just to avoid bad luck.