When she saw what she had done, she gave her father That rhyme has been passed down through the generations to describe the horror that took place at the Borden household in While it's not entirely accurate, the rhyme does reflect the ongoing fascination some people have with the double murder in Fall River , Massachusetts, as they line up to take a tour or even stay overnight at the crime scene now known as Lizzie Borden House.
October has long been considered the spookiest month, and as Halloween approaches, many tourists find it the ideal time to visit a home with a gruesome past or descend into a darkened basement clutching a lantern. While there is no scientific evidence that homes can be haunted or ghosts exist, polls indicate that one-third or more of Americans believe in such phenomena.
For many others, the tours represent nothing more than a bit of spine-tingling fun. And there are plenty of savvy business owners who know how to capitalize on the fear, mystery and wonder that has surrounded death since the dawn of humankind. In fact, Borden was tried and acquitted of killing her father, a wealthy investor, and her stepmother, despite the strong evidence against her. That left the murders officially unsolved, and the outcome only added to people's fascination with the case.
I think it's what you would call a haunting," he said. On the other side of the U. Once the site of a hotel, these days it's home to a pizzeria and brewery. Portland's history certainly is disturbing: Men were kidnapped to work on ships, or were tricked into working as sailors by unscrupulous operators who got them drunk or ensnared them in debt. Women were also trafficked for prostitution, and criminals smuggled opium and alcohol. One local history buff, Joe Streckert, said nobody's found any artifacts to support the theory.
Rather more mundanely, he said, some of the interconnected basements were used for storing merchandise. Tourist Drew Smith said he thought he saw something weird in a hole, and his camera kept going out of focus.
