Do Not Place Your Hat Here

Some people believe that placing a hat on a bed invites bad luck—much like breaking a mirror. But where does such a notion come from? Some say it’s tied to our hair. But what if you no longer have any? Does the superstition extend to bald heads, to hair that has lingered long enough to be unstyled and forgotten?

The origins trace back to the belief that evil spirits lurk within hair. More likely, those spirits were simply static electricity—tiny crackling charges that danced through locks when hats were removed indoors. As people laid their hats on their beds, they feared transferring that unseen energy onto the very place where they rested at night. 

Do people still believe such things? It sounds absurd—one of those old wives' tales passed down with a knowing nod from grandparents. Yet, I saw belief firsthand just the other day. I was visiting a woman, the heat unbearable, and instinctively set my hat on the bed, unsure where else to place it.

She screamed.

A scream so chilling that the tiny hairs on the back of my neck tingled, vibrating with energy—static or something far worse.
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Evil spirits? Who’s to say? Perhaps they linger like the unexplained noise by my desk this morning, that sudden drop of something in the dark corner of the room. I looked. There was nothing there. Nothing had fallen.

Who is brave enough to check the basement?
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Not I. Not on Friday the 13th.