Depending on your point of view, the Lizzie Borden House stands today either as a grim reminder of what a human being is capable of, or a monument to poor taste. Either way, its proprietors go beyond the usual polite explanations of the bloody deeds that took place there and present their guests with a full-on bed and breakfast spook-fest, including a recreation of the meal that the Bordens ate on their last morning alive (jonny-cakes, cookies, bananas and coffee), and an 'I Survived the Night' T-shirt, available from the gift shop.

The house's story runs as follows: Andrew J Borden bought the house, built in 1845, to be close to his business in the tranquil town of Fall River. He lived there with his wife, stepmother to his two daughters, Emma and Lizzie, and their maid, Bridget. On 4th August, 1892, Lizzie woke Bridget from her afternoon nap upstairs to tell her that someone had killed her father. Bridget discovered the body of Mrs Borden in an upstairs bedroom. Both the victims had been brutally disfigured and had their skulls crushed by blows from a hatchet.

A number of peculiar occurrences led up to the murders, some of which seemed to implicate Lizzie. For example, the house had been divided between the couple and the two sisters for some time before the murders as a result of the friction between them over Mr Borden's decisions about how his property was to be distributed after his death. Lizzie was also reported to have tried unsuccessfully to buy cyanide from a local pharmacy.

Lizzie was tried for murder but the jury could not convict her based on the evidence available and so she was acquitted. As with many an unsolved 'whodunit', Lizzie's story has become folklore and has been represented in fiction and criminal theory ever since.

Ectoplasm-like forms appear on photographs taken in the house, glowing orbs are said to appear in mid-air and items go missing on a regular basis. Visitors have also described hearing voices, being touched, and feeling cats padding across their duvets at night, despite the fact that there are none in the house - though there were in Lizzie's time.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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