2. The Lizzie Borden house welcomes guests into its allegedly haunted rooms
The house in Fall River where Lizzie Borden was alleged to have “took an axe, gave her mother forty-whacks” has long been described by residents and guests as being haunted, but by whom or what is unclear. Officially the grisly murders of Andrew Borden and his wife on a hot August morning in 1892 is still an unsolved crime. Lizzie was found not guilty of the murders and no other person was ever charged. After her trial and acquittal Lizzie left the house, never to return, and resided with her sister in a fashionable neighborhood in Fall River. Ownership of the house passed through several hands over the years, and the site developed a reputation of housing several spirits. Reportedly doors open and close randomly, furniture seemingly relocates on its own whim and through its own power, and groans, moans, and disembodied laughter occurs in the house.
The house eventually became a bed and breakfast, where visitors can request the room where Lizzie’s mother was hacked to death, or sleep in Lizzie’s bedroom, and visit the settee in the parlor where Andrew Borden died (the settee is a replica, as are most of the furnishings). Those fearful of encountering the spirits in the house can reportedly bribe them to be left alone, a few coins on Andrew Borden’s dresser are sufficient to keep him away (though why one would choose to stay in a purportedly haunted house and pay to avoid the haunters is questionable). The giggling of children in the attic is a phenomenon often recounted by residents of the house, though there were no children in the house at the time of the famous murders, and who they would be is unknown.