On a day marked by superstition, analysts share their worst fears with CNBC.
It's the second Friday this year that falls on the 13th of the month – 13 is perceived as an unlucky number in many countries. And for the strategists interviewed from around the world, fears at the top of their lists ranged from skydiving with a parachute full of spiders to seeing a repeat of the global financial crisis of 2008.
(Read more: Traders fear Fed uncertainty more than Friday 13)
"It's jumping out of a plane and having the parachute open, but the parachute is filled with spiders that crawl over me as I drift into a pool populated by sharks with laser beams on their heads," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, an investment firm New York, speaking about his greatest fear on CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box."
For Sydney-based FOREX.com Research Analyst Chris Tedder, the biggest dread centered on sea monsters keeping him away from his day job.
"I didn't use to be afraid of the ocean, but I had a nightmare last night that I was stuck in the ocean and there were talking sea monsters and they wouldn't let me go home and trade the markets, so that's sticking with me today," he said.
In a sign that superstition continues to run deep in modern society, the U.K.'s Daily Mirror newspaper reported that a third of Brits say they would prefer to hide under the duvet this Friday 13 and emerge the following day to avoid bad luck.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, some 21 million people in the U.S. fear Friday the 13th, resulting in between $800 million to $900 million in lost business each time the 13th falls on Friday, media reported.
In Asian culture, the number 13 is not considered unlucky so the region is not beset by the fears associated with the date. And in China, it is the number four that is considered unlucky.
(Read more: Will Friday the 13th bring bad luck to the market?)
"Every culture has their lucky and unlucky numbers and Friday the 13th just happens to be a broadly exposed one," said Tony Nash, vice president at IHS in Singapore.
But just how unlucky is Friday the 13th? Based on research since 2009, U.S. markets usually close higher on this so-called unlucky day, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Since the last Friday the 13th, which fell in September, the S&P 500 stock index has climbed 5 percent.
"I'm not that superstitious," said Khoon Goh, a senior currency strategist at ANZ bank. "My biggest fear is that next year we do start to see rising yields in the U.S. impact this region."
Economic woes also featured at the top of the list of Friday the 13th fears for Patrick Scholes, managing director, for gaming and lodging equity research at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in New York.
(Read more: Japan extends lucky streak on unlucky day)
"For all of us in the hotel industry, we have not so fond memories of 2008-2010, so we're hoping not to re-live that anytime soon" he said.
While for IHS's Nash, Friday the 13th was likely to be a non-event since he faced one of his first fears recently: "It already happened – I was in Bali a couple of weeks ago and we found a 2-1/2 meter cobra in our room, so that has to rank up there in fears."
— By CNBC.Com's Dhara Ranasinghe; Follow her on Twitter @DharaCNBC