As Halloween approaches, tourists visit a home with a gruesome past and
tunnels said to be haunted
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[October 29, 2024]
By RODRIQUE NGOWI, CLAIRE RUSH and NICK PERRY
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother
40 whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41.”
That rhyme has been passed down through the generations to describe the
horror that took place at the Borden household in 1892. 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.
“I believe Lizzie did this,” tour guide Richard Sheridan tells a group
of spellbound tourists as he shows them a mannequin on a bedroom floor
spattered in fake blood, placed there to represent Borden's slain
stepmother.
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.
Sheridan said he thinks the murders left behind an eeriness that remains
today.
“I firmly believe they imprinted on the house. I think it's what you
would call a haunting," he said.
On the other side of the U.S. in Portland, Oregon, tourists walk down
steep steps into a cavernous basement in Old Town Chinatown. Once the
site of a hotel, these days it's home to a pizzeria and brewery. The
tourists are promised a lesson in Portland’s dark history and to hear
tales about Nina, who supposedly is the resident underground ghost.
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Beds are set up for guests to view during a tour of underground
passages on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP
Photo/Jenny Kane)
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.
The practice came to be known as “Shanghaiing," named after the
Chinese port city where some of the ships were headed. Women were
also trafficked for prostitution, and criminals smuggled opium and
alcohol.
But whether any of those activities actually took place in the
underground “Shanghai Tunnels" that are central to the tour is less
clear.
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.
“We don’t have any evidence that underground structures were part of
the whole Shanghaiing infrastructure," said Streckert, who wrote a
book on the history of Portland and once gave tours in Old Town.
But that doesn't stop the excitement of tourists.
“I kept getting shivers up the spine," said tourist Kate Nelson, who
added it wasn't the temperature. “You're going down stairs, you're
going through tunnels, you're going through places where other
energies have been.”
Tourist Drew Smith said he thought he saw something weird in a hole,
and his camera kept going out of focus.
“It was trying to pick up on something random in spots when there
was nothing there,” he said.
And the ghost? In a hushed voice, in the darkened basement
surrounded by tourists holding their lanterns, guide Natasha
Cimmiyotti said Nina died down there after falling down an elevator
shaft.
“Whatever you think ghosts or spirits may be, that is not up to me
to tell you,” Cimmiyotti said, adding with a sly smile: “There have
been experiences here, even as a healthy skeptic, I cannot tangibly
explain.”
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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon, and Perry from Meredith, New
Hampshire.
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