This entry is a little bit of a departure from our normal Hikes & Haunts itineraries; but this was such a great trip I wanted to share it with all of you here. I actually took this trip with my cousin back in 2016. We booked a stay at the Lizzie Borden B&B on August 4th, which was the 124^th anniversary of the murders!

In case you did not know, the Lizzie Borden house is open for daily tours. It is also a working B&B, so you can book an overnight stay as well, if you are brave enough! The haunted tour of the house was included with our room booking, so we got the best of both worlds.

We arrived in the afternoon, so we had time to settle in and explore the house. The vibe of the place was creepy from the time we arrived, but the staff was amazing and very welcoming. We settled down in the front parlor and watched The Legend of Lizzie Borden, the Elizabeth Montgomery (of Bewitched fame) Lizzie Borden movie (the B&B provided a copy of the movie).  It was very surreal watching the movie while sitting in the actual house!

Pretty soon evening rolled around and it was time for the haunted tour. Since this was the anniversary of the murders, the house was filled with actor’s from the events they held earlier in the day, as well as paranormal investigators. All of it added to the spookiness of the atmosphere! The tour took us throughout the entire house, including where Lizzie’s stepmother was found dead on the upstairs bedroom floor (you can stay overnight in this room by the way) and of course the living room where Mr. Borden was found. The staff did an excellent job of detailing all the events, including trial evidence. Then they took us to the basement. This is where it got really creepy. Our guide as well as the paranormal investigators told us their belief that an elemental spirit, probably of demonic origin, resides in the basement of the house. They led us to one particular section in the basement that appeared to be a storage room/closet. Our entire group looked in, but nothing looked amiss. Then the guide suggested we take a photo of the room and that is when the outline of a face became visible (see the photo below). This face is not visible to the naked eye, you can only see it in photos. At that point we were really creeped out!

After the tour we got to spend time with the staff and investigators. We learned more about the house, and they told us about their own personal scary experiences there. Then it was time for bed. We went up to our “room,” which was actually the two rooms that the Borden sisters used as their bedrooms. We each had our own beds. But after the tour and just the oppressive atmosphere of the house, were decided to sleep in the same bed. I would like to point out we are two full grown women, both normally very logical and courageous; but on this night, we slept back-to-back with the lights on like two little kids!

After a somewhat restful night (it is tough to get a good night’s rest when you are terrified), we got up the next morning and went downstairs to a lovely breakfast. We had authentic flapjacks, sausage and all the breakfast fixings. It was wonderful.

Out of all the spooky places I have visited, the Lizzie Borden B&B is the scariest. My brief summary above does not do the place justice. And I cannot give enough glowing praise for the tour and house staff. They are pros and made our stay incredible! Oh, and the gift shop was awesome too! I still put out my Lizzie Borden bobble head out every Halloween.

If you ever get the chance to visit the Lizzie Borden B&B, do! Better yet if you can, spend the night!

Before leaving Fall River, we drove the short distance to Maplecroft, the house Lizzie bought and moved to after the death of her parents. The house is privately owned and not open for tours, so please be respectful if you decide to drive by.

We also stopped at the Oak Grove Cemetery where Liz, her sister and her parents are buried. Note that Lizzie preferred to be called Lizbeth after her parents died, so that is the name on her tombstone.

Finally we left Fall River and on recommendation from the paranormal investigators, we drove to the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Exeter, Rhode Island to visit the grave of Mercy Brown.  Mercy’s family was inflicted with tuberculosis, killing her mother, sister, and Mercy herself. Unfortunately, this all occurred during the New England vampire panic of 1892. When Mercy’s brother fell ill, Mercy’s grave was exhumed on suspicion of her being a vampire. Her heart and liver were cut out and burned to ashes, mixed with water, and fed to her dying brother as a remedy to break the vampiric curse. It did not work, Edwin died two months later. Was Mercy a vampire, or was her body preserved due to the cold New England winter? I will leave that to you to decide.

We stopped to pay our respects and found we were not the only ones curious to visit the grave of a suspected vampire. The grave was covered with candles and trinkets from many other visitors. Hopefully, Mercy is enjoying the attention!

From here we made our way to Newport, Rhode Island. This is where I would usually introduce a new hike, but as I said this was a different trip. However, we did do a ton of walking! We took the Newport Rhode Island Mansion tour. This was my second time touring the mansions, but it was just as amazing as the first time! I would not hesitate to do it again if I am ever in the area. Definitely wear comfortable shoes though. The houses themselves are vast, but you also cover miles traveling from one house to the next. I was particularly fascinated with the basements, where the kitchens are located, in my opinion the hearts of the houses. It is just incredible to see how they managed to support and feed the hundreds of guests the mansions hosted every summer. Please view the pictures of the houses via the link I provided above. My favorite is The Breakers, second is The Marble House. But each mansion has its own appeal.

If you decide to take this trip for yourself, please share your experiences. As always, I look forward to hearing from you!