Do spooky nights stir mischief in Southern Colorado?
KDVR Fox 31
SOUTHERN COLORADO (KXRM) — As Halloween approaches and Southern Colorado prepares for the spooky season, thoughts of mischief and mayhem arise. Tradition suggests that nights like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and full moons bring out the worst in people and spark strange occurrences, but is there any truth to these superstitions?
The last Friday the 13th was in September, and that weekend, Nexstar partner station FOX21 News covered enough strange stories to raise eyebrows, so to find out whether superstitious days are truly stranger than normal, FOX21 sent out a call for help and Southern Colorado's emergency responders came to the rescue.
Station enlists the help of first responders
Whether through detailed spreadsheets, thoughtful insights, or playful anecdotes, representatives from law enforcement and fire departments around the area weighed in on how spooky nights compare to every other evening.
Ashley Franco, public information officer for the Colorado Springs Fire Department, said holidays, especially Halloween, bring an uptick in calls as more people are out and about, increasing the chances for incidents.
Lisa Schneider, Assistant to the Chief of Police and PIO for the Fountain Police Department, added that on holidays or days considered "crazy," such as Friday the 13th, people often have parties involving alcohol, leading to poor decisions and poor outcomes.
"Superstitious people may be more aware of their surroundings during times such as Friday the 13th, full moons, and Halloween," said Tim Bell, Commander of the Professional Standards Division at the Cañon City Police Department .
"So, if there is an increase in suspicious behavior calls, it could be simply due to people being more observant during those times… In other words, a superstitious person may not notice strange behavior and call it in on an otherwise ordinary day."
Some first responders noted similar trends unrelated to "spooky" days.
Trends outside of superstitious days
Bell said the holiday season typically brings a noticeable rise in domestic violence and family or neighbor disputes, especially as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, due to seasonal stress. He added that the CCPD co-responder clinician reported an increase in suicides and other destructive behaviors linked to mental health struggles, which tend to rise as daylight decreases and sunlight exposure lessens.
Both Franco and Derek Irvine, Fremont County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff, shared the surprising revelation that Thursday nights have historically been the busiest in terms of calls. Irvine said, "Back in the day we ran call to call all night long. I remember one night back in the early 2000s, I blew the fuses in my light bar because it was on for hours."
Some PIOs turned to the numbers to answer whether nights of superstition were crazier than others.
What do the numbers show?
Sergeant Patrick Rice from Colorado State Patrol Public Affairs and Recruiting looked at recent data for Friday the 13th, full moons, and Halloween and compared them to surrounding dates, and said that according to his "extremely non-scientific investigation," it appeared to be a myth that spooky days were significantly worse than others.
According to Rice, Friday the 13th showed a 13% increase in activity, full moons had 6% more, and Halloween came in last with a paltry 5% increase.
Timothy Trujillo, Pueblo Fire Department's PIO, and Truck 51 Firefighter, along with his team compiled an impressive spreadsheet tracking the number of calls received daily since the beginning of the year. The data compared regular days, full moons, and Friday the 13th.
Pueblo averaged 76 calls per day, with full moons showing a mixed pattern of higher and lower call volumes, averaging 74 in 2024. Friday the 13th saw a slight increase to 89 calls, but September, in general, was busier, averaging 83 calls per day. Either way, the data did not show a significant enough difference in call volume to be conclusive.
Bell's conclusion was similar, saying that CCPD's Crime Analyst found the numbers didn't show an observable enough difference to justify the research.
Numbers reflect call volume rather than unusual circumstances, and several responders noted that full moons can lead to stranger calls.
Strange happenings during full moons
The Pueblo Fire Department's spreadsheet included the types of calls it receives, but the list was too extensive to determine if any specific type occurred more frequently on full moons or Friday the 13th. However, several assaults, stabbings, and bite wounds were reported on those days.
FOX21 News has reported unusual incidents during full moons in 2024, including a partial building collapse in Cañon City and a caller reporting a blood-like substance dripping from the apartment balcony above in Colorado Springs.
Whether tradition holds true that spooky days cause more mayhem may remain a mystery science can't solve or experts can't agree on. But those who believe in it might keep a watchful eye when the witching hour strikes.
Rice summed it up well.
"Anyone in the 911 business knows, no matter what the data shows when that moon is out on Friday the 13th and a black cat dashes in front of your car ... It's time to go home," Rice said.
Heads up for those watching out for black cats or broken mirrors, the next Friday the 13th falls in December.