The Lizzie Borden House could be a sweet little bed and breakfast if you did not think too hard about the murders. But with photos of the victims and hatchet iconography plastered throughout the Greek Revival–style 1845 build, it is impossible not to. And what else would bring you to this particular six-bedroom residence in Fall River, Massachusetts? Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premieres today on Netflix, bringing a new cycle of buzz to the case, but the story has already drawn attention for over a century. The house, where 32-year-old Lizzie Borden stands accused of bludgeoning her father and stepmother, now operates as a museum and inn. It welcomes guests for tours, overnight stays, and breakfast.
A Business Built on a Crime Scene
The place is owned and run by US Ghost Adventures, a company that operates spooky tours and bar crawls in more than 200 cities nationwide and offers stays at five homes with haunted histories. The company’s founder, Lance Zaal, purchased the Borden home off the market in 2021 for approximately $1.9 million. It had been operating as a house museum since 1996; prior to that, it was privately owned for decades.
The Borden sisters parted ways with the three-story dwelling shortly after Lizzie was acquitted of the murders. Zaal finds that those who enjoy his paranormal activities fit into one of two camps: history lovers and thrill-seekers. He puts himself in the former, pointing out some of the work he has spearheaded in his time as owner of the residence, from restoring the 19th-century fence to conducting a paint analysis of the home’s original colors to coat it in its apparent Borden-era muted army green.
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Balancing History and Horror
Zaal welcomes any visitor eager for a ghost-adventure, yet he acknowledges that turning the Borden saga into spectacle can skirt moral lines. “Groups would rent the house out and do seances, and I’m really trying to have us…” he begins, then trails off. “In the beginning, I really tried to control our perception.
A lot of people think that me or my company, just because we are called US Ghost Adventures, that we are all about just the ghosts, but our focus is on history. We are trying to also make history fun and interesting. You have to strike a balance with places with difficult history,” he explains. “First, it’s about the integrity of the story, and preserving the property, and then it’s about making sure that the people learn something, and that they enjoy their time.”
The operation remains a business: for a modest $30 fee, staff will place an axe or a doll on a guest’s pillow to set the mood, and a romance package with flower petals is also available. While this may not suit every traveler’s idea of an ideal night, the strategy clearly resonates. “We see people coming [back for] their third time at the house, even fifth time. We have people who are lifelong Lizzie Borden fans,” Zaal notes. The on-site shop stocks items like “I survived” T-shirts for the dedicated crowd.
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I arrive just before the afternoon group begins. Our guide promises to treat everyone “better than family.” She ushers us into the sitting room where Andrew’s body was discovered on a sofa; a mannequin draped in cloth sits on a replica couch. The house’s original layout—with its steep, narrow stairways—remains largely unchanged, though the kitchen now features early-2000s-style, fire-department-approved appliances for guest breakfasts. The guide points out, with a smile, that the espresso machine on display is not Lizzie’s.
Several areas, including what used to be Andrew’s office, have been converted into bathrooms. Although Andrew Borden was a prosperous businessman who owned multiple properties, he was notoriously stingy, even forgoing plumbing despite its availability at the time. Finances were allegedly a point of contention between Andrew and his daughter.
The Haunted Second Floor
The family’s sleeping quarters occupy the second floor. The first room highlighted is the John Morse room, named for Lizzie’s maternal uncle who stayed there the night before the murders and where Abby met her end (and where a photographer later spent the night). The guide suggests Abby was likely arranging the space after his visit when the hatchet-wielder struck. The chamber is intentionally unsettling, featuring an Abby mannequin and a framed photograph of her body positioned exactly where she fell.
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Whether or not the Sunday school teacher was responsible for the patricide and step-matricide, a brutal daylight double homicide occurred that morning in Fall River. Only Lizzie and the family’s maid Bridget were present on the premises, and neither reported seeing the attacker. If the floral-papered walls could speak, the century-old mystery would be solved; instead, guests turn to the spirits for answers.
On a tour meant for serious specter hunters and offered late at night, visitors can do just that. The guide says that Abby’s spirit could not be reached for comment during a photographer’s night in the room where she was killed. The photographer did not make a sincere effort to summon her. Dousing rods, spirit boxes, and other ghost hunting equipment are available for checkout, though Ouija boards were prohibited after an incident. Staff members say the house’s 1920s-era board was stolen and eventually returned with a note pleading to “make it stop.”
Unsettling Remains in the Basement
Despite the swapped-out wallpaper and the replica furnishings, the house still has the same bones. The basement ceiling directly beneath the room where Andrew was killed is stained, all these years later, with visible traces of… something. The tour guide says blood. Before one photographer gets into bed, when the house is silent, their mind drifts down two stories to those stains. They consider the spot right beside the bed and what happened there. They step around.
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