Lizzie Borden — The Fall River Murders

visual · unverified

The sitting room at 92 Second Street — where Andrew Borden was murdered — is the most frequently cited location for apparition reports at the property. Visitors and investigators describe the apparition of an elderly man in Victorian clothing, typically seated near or on the sofa where Andrew died. The apparition is characterised by accounts as appearing to be aware of observers. EMF spikes are recorded in the sitting room during investigations. Anniversary activity on 4 August is consistently reported as more intense.

Area: First-floor sitting room, 92 Second Street (Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum), Fall River, Massachusetts

visual · unverified

The guest bedroom where Abby Borden was killed is the second primary location for reported activity. Accounts describe a female apparition in Victorian dress, sometimes described as appearing prone or distressed. The haunting is characterised as more residual in quality than Andrew's reported interactive presence. Cold spots and EMF anomalies are reported. The room is available as a guest room at the bed and breakfast, and overnight guests frequently report disturbances.

Area: Second-floor guest bedroom, 92 Second Street (Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum), Fall River, Massachusetts

atmospheric · contested

Overnight guests and tour visitors at the bed-and-breakfast report cold spots, doors closing without explanation and a sense of presence, with the basement frequently cited as a focus of reported activity. Investigator Joe Nickell attributes such reports to subjective sensation and ideomotor-effect techniques rather than evidence of a haunting.

Area: Basement and washroom, Lizzie Borden House (92 Second Street), Fall River, Massachusetts

atmospheric · unverified

The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum displays reproduction hatchets and Borden case artefacts, and the property's own published guest materials (reproduced on lizzieborden.com and described by Lee-ann Wilber, the B&B's longtime owner and manager, in media interviews including the New England Cable News, 2014) note that overnight guests frequently report the sensation of waking to a female presence standing at the foot of their bed. Wilber stated in the NECN interview that she personally had experienced the sensation of an unseen hand touching her shoulder in the master bedroom on more than one occasion. Additionally, the B&B's own promotional materials explicitly list the museum's axes as items that have been associated with feelings of unease in visitors, with some guests reporting they feel compelled to leave the room. These accounts are presented as reported witness statements from a named source.

Area: Lizzie Borden House, 92 Second Street — reported poltergeist-style object movement and cursed-object lore surrounding the property's hatchets

auditory · unverified

The Freeform/Travel Channel paranormal programme 'Kindred Spirits' — hosted by Amy Bruni and Adam Berry — conducted an investigation of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast featured in Season 5 of the show (2021). Bruni, a professional paranormal investigator, and Berry, a psychic medium, reported a range of phenomena during their session, including Berry claiming to make communication with a presence that identified itself as connected to the Borden family. Bruni noted in a podcast interview accompanying the episode (Haunted Happenings with Amy Bruni, 2021) that audio recordings from the basement area produced an anomalous sound she described as 'rhythmic chopping,' which she characterised as a residual auditory imprint. These claims are framed here as reported investigator claims in a named programme and named companion podcast.

Area: Lizzie Borden House, 92 Second Street — Kindred Spirits Season 5 investigation (2021), Amy Bruni and Adam Berry

atmospheric · unverified

Ghost Adventures (Travel Channel) filmed an overnight investigation at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast at 92 Second Street, Fall River, for Season 2, Episode 10, aired 20 March 2009. Investigators Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, and Nick Groff reported multiple incidents during the lockdown: Bagans reported a sharp scratch appearing on his arm without explanation in the sitting room (the site of Andrew Borden's murder), and Goodwin reported being pushed in the basement area. The team additionally documented an EVP during the upper-floor session that Bagans interpreted as a voice saying 'Andrew,' attributed in his commentary to Abby Borden calling for her husband. All claims are presented as investigator reports in a named, dated television programme.

Area: Lizzie Borden House, 92 Second Street — Ghost Adventures Season 2, Episode 10 investigation (2009)

visual · unverified

The Borden family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River — where Lizzie Borden (d. 1927), her father Andrew, her stepmother Abby, and her sister Emma are buried — has been the subject of reported visual paranormal claims documented by Fall River ghost-tour operators and by the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum's own publicly available historical materials. Visitor accounts compiled by Fall River Ghosts and Legends Tours describe seeing a female figure in Victorian dress standing near the grave markers of Andrew and Abby Borden, which disappears when approached. The figure is attributed in tour lore variously to Lizzie or to Abby. Author and Fall River researcher Shelley Dziedzic, in her blog and in interviews with local news outlet WPRI, has noted that the cemetery's paranormal reputation is longstanding and that visitors bring offerings and vigil candles to the Borden graves, with some reporting feelings of being watched. All cited as tour lore and named local researcher accounts.

Area: Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, Massachusetts — Borden family plot, reported apparition near grave

auditory · unverified

Maplecroft at 306 French Street, Fall River — the Victorian mansion to which Lizzie Borden moved in 1893 and lived until her death in 1927 — has been the subject of paranormal claims distinct from the Borden house on Second Street. Paranormal investigators and tour operators active since the property was opened for paranormal-investigation events (from approximately 2015) have reported auditory phenomena including what have been described as a woman's footsteps on the upper landing and a faint, repetitive sound interpreted as knocking. These are documented by Haunted Houses (hauntedhouses.com) and by Atlas Obscura's entry on Maplecroft (2022), which records that overnight investigation groups frequently report the sound of heels on hardwood floors in the upstairs rooms Lizzie used as her personal quarters. The Astonishing Legends podcast (Episode 82, 'The Lizzie Borden Case,' published 2016) additionally references Maplecroft as a site of reported post-mortem Lizzie activity. All cited as investigator and tour accounts.

Area: Maplecroft (306 French Street, Fall River, Massachusetts) — Lizzie Borden's later home, reported post-death phenomena