Reference » Weird Holidays & Observances

Since we love strange, bizarre, wacky and unusual celebrations, holidays, and observances, we cultivated the following collection of them that we found from our Sources. (Gotta credit our sources. We didn’t just pull these weird dates out of our hoo-has. Now that would be bizarre!)

The listing is geared towards anything travel, pop culture (especially paranormal, horror, or Halloween), but there are also a few celebrity birthdays and deathiversaries.

In general, if it’s odd and out of the ordinary, it appealed to our unusual sensibilities and made the list.

Weird Holidays & Observances Options

Choose from the following to start exploring our weird and unusual days collection:

• Friday the 13th Dates
• Jump to a Month

Note:

• Where applicable, if the holiday or observance has an official website, we’ve linked to it.
• Also where applicable, we’ve listed month-long or week-specific bizarre, wacky or unusual celebrations that we found appealing too. After all, why limit a party to one day when you can party for a whole week or month? Can we get an “Amen!”?

Missing Something?

Something we’re missing? If you know a date, anniversary, birthday, or deathiversary you think we should add, say something! That’s what our Contact Us page is for.

Last updated: October 9, 2024

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Friday the 13th Dates

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Jump to a Month

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January

Daily

• 1  Z Day
• 2 National Science Fiction Day
• 3 J.R.R. Tolkien Day
• 3 Memento Mori “Remember You Die” Day
• 4 World Hypnotism Day
• 5 La Befana Day (The Italian “Christmas” Witch)
• 9 (Second Tuesday) National Shop For Travel Day 
• 10 Peculiar People Day
• 16 Appreciate a Dragon Day
• 16 John Carpenter’s Birthday
• 17 Harry Price’s Birthday
• 19 Edgar Allen Poe’s Birthday
• 19 (Third Friday) International Fetish Day
• 21 Oren Peli’s Birthday
• 24 Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day
• 26 Hans Holzer’s Birthday
• 27 Thomas Crapper Day
• 29 Curmudgeons Day
• 30 (Last Tuesday) National Plan For A Vacation Day 
• 31 Lorraine Warren’s Birthday

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February

Monthly

• Women in Horror Month

Daily

• 1 Imbolc
• 1 Mary Shelley’s Deathiversary
• 1 Serpent Day
• 2 Groundhog Day
• 13 (Second Tuesday) Extraterrestrial Culture Day (also sometimes called Extraterrestrial Visitor Day)
• 13 Get a Different Name Day
• 14 Valentine’s Day
• 26 Tell a Fairy Tale Day
• 27 James Wan’s Birthday
• 27 World Sword Swallowers Day
• 28 National Tooth Fairy Day
  

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March

Monthly

• Spiritual Wellness Month
• Employee Spirit Month

Weekly

• 1-7 National Ghostwriters Week (Yes, we realize ghostwriters are not ghosts. Or are they…?)
• 1-3 (First full weekend)  International Festival of Owls Week
• 8-10 (Second Weekend) World Rattlesnake Roundup
• 10-16 (Second Full Week) Campfire USA Birthday Week (Including because you can’t have a campfire without ghost stories to go along with it.)
• 17-23 (Third week) World Folktales & Fables Week

Daily

• 1 Imbolc
• 2 Old Stuff Day
• 4 Courageous Follower Day (Our motto is: “Jaunt with us. If you dare…” Might have to have a giveaway to show some follower appreciation every year on this date!)
• 5 National Absinthe Day
• 9 Panic Day
• 12 Alfred Hitchcock Day
• 13 National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day (If you dare… Are you superstitious at all?)
• 14 Save a Spider Day
• 15 Buzzards Day
• 19 Goddess of Fertility Day (Day before the Spring Equinox)
• 20 Alien Abduction Day (aka Extraterrestrial Abduction Day)
• 20 International Astrology Day
• 20 Snowman Burning Day
• 20 World Storytelling Day
• 22 National Goof-off Day
• 25 Tolkien Reading Day
• 28 Barnum & Bailey Day
• 29 Harry Price’s Deathiversary
• 29 International Mermaid Day
• 29 Smoke & Mirrors Day

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April

Monthly

• Frog Month
• Global Astronomy Month

Weekly

• 2-9 (Changes weeks each year) International Dark Sky Week

Daily

• 1 April Fool’s Day
• 1 Atheist Day
• 1 Sorry Charlie Day
• 3 (First Wednesday) Paraprofessional Appreciation Day (Do paranormal investigators count? We say, “Yes!”)
• 4 Tell a Lie Day
• 5 First Contact Day (Star Trek related. April 5, 2063 = date made first contact with the Vulcans.)
• 5 Read A Road Map Day
• 5 Qingming Festival (Chinese Tomb-Sweeping Day)
• 5 Zak Bagans’ Birthday
• 6 Plan Your Epitaph Day (also observed on November 2)
• 6 (First Saturday) Tangible Karma Day 
• 8 Buddha’s Birthday
• 8 Kane Hodder’s Birthday
• 9 Cherish an Antique Day
• 9 National Unicorn Day
• 12 Walk On Your Wild Side Day
• 15 That Sucks Day
• 17 Bat Appreciation Day
• 17 Blah! Blah! Blah! Day
• 17 Herbalist Day
• 19 Nick Groff’s Birthday
• 20 (Third Saturday) World Circus Day
• 23 Movie Theatre Day
• 24 St. Mark’s Eve (aka Spying on Future Ghosts)
• 26 Alien Day
• 26 Hans Holzer’s Deathiversary
• 28 National Superhero Day (Here’s the link to the FB community)
• 29 Alfred Hitchcock’s Deathiversary
• 29 Bats Day
• 30 Beltane
• 30 Half Way to Halloween
• 30 Hexennacht (Witches’ Night)
• 30 Walpurgis Night (also a sort of Witches’ Night)

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May

Monthly

• Get Caught Reading Month (What will you be caught reading? #Busted)
• Mystery Month
• National Meditation Month
• National Photo Month
• Zombie Awareness Month

Weekly

• 19-25 National Tourism Week
• 11-13 Three Icemen Days or Three Chilly Saints Days

Daily

• 1 Beltane
• 1 Samhain (Southern Hemisphere)
• 1 Batman Day (also September 17)
• 2 International Harry Potter Day
• 3 Paranormal Day – Be sure to visit our Paranormal Day page!
• 4 Star Wars Day
• 6 National Tourist Appreciation Day
• 6 Atlas Obscura Day
• 7 National Tourism Day
• 11 Twilight Zone Day
• 13 Leprechaun Day
• 14 Astrology Day (Spring and Fall)
• 15 International Dinosaur Day (Also observed on June 1)
• 15 World Meditation Day
• 16 National Piercing Day
• 16 National Sea Monkey Day
• 18 International Museum Day
• 18 National Museum Day
• 22 Sherlock Holmes Day
• 22 World Goth Day
• 23 World Turtle Day
• 25 Cookie Monster’s Birthday (See also November 2. There seems to be some confusion as two dates show for him. Maybe ol’ Cookie’s trying to pull a fast one and get more presents?)
• 26 World Dracula Day
• 26 Peter Cushing’s Birthday
• 27 Christopher Lee’s Birthday
• 27 Vincent Price’s Birthday
• 31: Mike, The Headless Chicken Day

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June

Monthly

• National Camping Month

Daily

• 1 Dinosaur Day (It’s also observed on the May 15)
• 1 Oscar The Grouch’s Birthday
• 4 George Noory’s Birthday
• 4 National Trails Day
• 5 National Moonshine Day (Celebrate at haunted Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary with some of their End of the Line Moonshine!)
• 6 Drive-in Movie Day
• 6 Robert Englund’s Birthday
• 8 Ghostbusters Day (Commemorates the release of the original movie in 1984)
• 8 Name Your Poison Day
• 12 Superman Day
• 13 Jason Voorhees’ Birthday
• 14 Monkey Around Day
• 14 World Blood Donor Day
• 21 Summer Solstice
• 24 International Fairy Day or Faerie Day
• 24 World UFO Day  (Also July 2)
• 30 (Last Sunday) Log Cabin Day (Creepy cabin in the woods, anyone? At least a good day to watch a horror movie about one.)

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July

Monthly

• National Parks & Recreation Month

Daily

• 2 World UFO Day (Also June 24)
• 3 Grant Wilson’s Birthday (Ghost Hunters)
• 7 (First Sunday) Build a Scarecrow Day – (Click here to see why it’s observed in July rather than a Fall month.)
• 13 Embrace Your Geekness Day
• 14 Pandemonium Day
• 16 World Snake Day
• 20 Moon Day
• 20 Space Exploration Day
• 22 Rat-catchers Day
• 27 Barbie-in-a-Blender Day

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August

Monthly

• American Adventures Month
• Arrr-gust: International Pirate Month

Weekly

• 4-10 (First Week) International Clown Week
• 4-10 (First Full Week) International Psychic Week
• 25-27 (Last Full Weekend) International Bat Night

Daily

• 1 Lughnasadh
• 1 Spider-Man Day (also October 14)
• 2 Wes Craven’s Birthday
• 4 (First Sunday) Psychic Day
• 4 (First Sunday) National Doll Day
• 6 M. Night Shyamalan’s Birthday
• 7 Lighthouse Day
• 10 Josh Gates’s Birthday
• 13 Alfred Hitchcock’s Birthday
• 17 Black Cat Appreciation Day
• 18 Serendipity Day
• 20 International Geocaching Day
• 22 Be an Angel Day
• 23 Ed Warren’s Deathiversary
• 24 Vesuvius Day
• 25 National Park Service Day
• 28 National Ghostbusters Day (Commemorates the 30th anniversary re-release of the movie. There’s also a Ghostbusters Day on June 8 to commemorate the original release.)
• 29 Walt Disney released the cartoon “The Skeleton Dance” in 1929
• 30 Frankenstein Day (in honor of Mary Shelley’s Birthday)
• 30 Mary Shelley’s Birthday
• 30 Wes Craven’s Deathiversary

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September

Monthly

• Blood Cancer Awareness Month
• (World) Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month

*Note: The above two observances have extreme significance for Courtney Mroch, Haunt Jaunts creator, host, and guide. She started HJ as part of her “get off the couch” initiative as she battled lymphoma. You can learn more on HJ’s Origin Story page. 

Daily

• 1 Chicken Boy Day
• 7 Ed Warren’s Birthday
• 8 National Mermaid Day
• 9 Wonderful Weirdos Day
• 11 Pet Rock Day
• 13 Roald Dahl Day
• 13 Scooby-Doo Day
• 13 Defy Superstition Day
• 13 Friday the 13th
• 13 Fortune Cookie Day
• 16 National Tattoo Story Day (started by NBC’s Blindspot)
• 17 Batman Day (also May 1)
• 19 International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Arrr, ye scallywags!)
• 21 Stephen King’s Birthday
• 22 Hobbit Day
• 24 National Museum Day
• 25 World Dream Day
• 27 World Tourism Day
• 28 (Last Saturday) National Ghost Hunting Day

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October

Monthly

• Bat Appreciation Month
• Black Speculative Fiction Month
• Halloween Safety Month
• International Starman Month

Weekly

• 6-12 Mystery Series Week
• 8-12 International Cephalopod Awareness Days
• 14-20 Meditation Week
• 22-28 (last week of the month): Give Wildlife a Brake! Week (Including Bigfoot!) also in November
• 24-31: Bat Week 
• 25-31 International Magic Week

Daily

• 1 National Black Dog Day
• 1 National Book It! Day
• 1 Willy Wonka Day
• 1 (First Sunday) Country Inn Bed & Breakfast Day
• 2 Guardian Angels Day
• 2 National Name Your Car Day
• 3 Virus Appreciation Day
• 5 Clive Barker’s Birthday
• 6 Mad Hatter Day
• 7 Edgar Allen Poe’s Deathiversary
• 8 World Octopus Day
• 8 Astronomy Day (Twice a year, Spring and Fall)
• 8 (Second Tuesday) International Face Your Fears Day
• 9 Curious Events Day
• 9 Guillermo del Toro’s Birthday
• 11 Octopus Myths and Legends Day (“For all the fantastical cephalopods of movies, literature and legend. Release the Kraken!”)
• 12 International Moment of Frustration Scream Day
• 12 (Second Saturday) National Costume Swap Day
• 13 International Skeptics Day
• 14 Spider-Man Day (Also Aug 1)
• 15 Grouch Day
• 19 Michael Myers’ Birthday
• 20 Bela Lugosi’s Birthday
• 20 National Sasquatch Awareness Day
• 21 Reptile Awareness Day
• 25 Chucky, The Notorious Killer Doll Day
• 25 (Last Friday in October) Frankenstein Friday
• 25 Sourest Day
• 25 St. Crispin’s Day
• 26 Allantide
• 26 Howl at The Moon Night
• 26 National Pumpkin Day
• 27 National Black Cat Day
• 27 (Last Sunday) Visit a Cemetery Day
• 30 Create A Great Funeral Day (Don’t fear the Reaper)
• 30 National Candy Corn Day
• 30 Mischief Night (aka Devil’s Night)
• 30 Haunted Refrigerator Night
• 30 National Vampire Awareness Day
• 31 Carve a Pumpkin Day
• 31 Halloween (aka All Hallows Eve)
• 31 Samhain
• 31 National Magic Day (Memorializes the death of Harry Houdini)
• 31 Increase Your Psychic Powers Day

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November

Monthly

• Gnomevember

Weekly

• 3-9 (First Week) Give Wildlife A Brake! Week (also in October)
• 17-23 (Third full week) Geography Awareness Week
• 24-30 (Sunday-Saturday Thanksgiving Week) National Game & Puzzle Week 

Daily

• 1 Hockey Mask Day
• 1 Dia de Los Muertos (en ingles, Day of The Dead)
• 2 All Souls Say
• 2 Look for Circles Day (Have you spotted a crop circle lately?)
• 2 Plan Your Epitaph Day (also observed on April 6)
• 2 Cookie Monster Day (see also May 25)
• 6 Stranger Things Day – November 6, 1983 Will Byers went missing in Hawkins, Indiana. But as we know, he was still there. Just trapped in the Upside Down. Click here to learn more about who started it and why.
• 7 (First Saturday) Pumpkin Destruction Day
• 8 Dunce Day
• 8 X-ray Day
• 9 Chaos Never Dies Day (Recognizes the turmoil in modern, everyday life.)
• 10 Sesame Street Day – Celebrates 50 years in 2019!
• 11 National Homunculus Day
• 12 Fancy Rat & Mouse Day
• 13 Friday the 13th
• 17 Take a Hike Day (Maybe along some haunted trails that we know of?)
• 18 Occult Day
• 20 Absurdity Day
• 24 All Our Uncles Are Monkeys Day (aka Evolution Day, celebrates when Darwin’s On the Origins of Species first published.)
• 28 (Fourth Sunday of the Month) Crystal Skull World Day 
• 29 Saint Andrews Day (which is Night of the Werewolves and Vampires in Romania Folklore.)

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December

Monthly

• Spiritual Literacy Month

Weekly

• 17-23 Saturnalia

Daily

• 5 Krampusnacht (aka Krampus night)
• 8 Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day
• 9 Cremation Day
• 9 Weary Willie Day (Emmett Kelly, Jr. was the man behind this Depression-era iconic sad clown face.)
• 12 National Ding-a-Ling Day – “Some people say this is a day for wackos, lunatics, and others who are off their rocker. We say, it is simply a day to cut loose, act a little weird.”
• 16 National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
• 18 Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day
• 21 Humbug Day
• 21 National Flashlight Day (What self respecting ghost hunter wouldn’t have one of these handy? A day to pay homage to such a handy instrument!)
• 21 Winter Solstice
• 21 Yule
• 23 Festivus
• 27 Jason Hawes’s Birthday
• 31 Hogmanay
• 31 World Peace Meditation Day

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Sources

We found the above fun holidays and observances on the following sites:

• Brownielocks
• Checkiday.com
• Days of the Year
• Holiday Insights
• The Funeral Source’s Deathiversary Directory
• TimeandDate.com
• What National Day Is It?

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More Dates

Also be sure to check out our Full Moon Dates and Names page!