A harbinger of bad luck, many people are wary when the 13th of a month falls on a Friday. However, a group in Hammond built around such spooky themes took advantage of the ill-regarded date to promote their organization.

Hammond Horror Festival held a “Friday the 13th Horror Trivia Night” at the Courtyard Cafe Friday, July 13 at 6 p.m. hosted by HHF Board Member Chad Winters.

“We want to get ourselves out in the public eye a lot more,” said Winters. “So, we want to do more events throughout the year to help us promote the festival.”

The owner of the café, enthused by the organization, suggested the trivia night and opened the doors for fellow horror fanatics.

“I think it turned out really well,” said Winters. “The space was full and that’s all I can really ask for. We got over 20 people here. So, that’s 20 more people that knows about the event. There were a lot of new faces and that’s really exciting as well.”

The trivia game consisted of three rounds with each having a winner. Some of the more dedicated fans decided to come dressed as characters from their favorite horror films.

“I was actually very surprised,” said Winters. “I thought there would be a few but that there were almost eight costumes in the room, I was excited. I thought they all went out for it. They really took the effort to find these fun costumes for this event.”

Winters, who is an instructor of acting and directing at the university, enjoyed hosting the event and hopes to see the attendees again in October.

“I had a fun time,” said Winters. “I was a little nervous before I came in. I hadn’t done something like this before, but as a host, it was fun to be able to offer the questions. The audience was really good. I was very very pleased with how it turned out.”

HHF is an annual two-day festival held in October. The first night, which will be Oct. 19 this year, consists of Alpha Psi Omega’s annual 24-hour theatre event in Pottle Auditorium. The second night, Oct. 20, will be a 48-hour film festival at Gnarly Barley Brewing Co.