The guest for the Haunt Jaunts radio show on Tuesday March 21, 2017 is Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter author Chris Verstraete. (Who writes as C.A. Verstraete.)
Chris also happens to be a long time friend of mine. (I wanted to get acclimated to this radio hosting gig with people I felt comfortable with at first. Which is why all of my guests so far have been people I’m just that with: comfortable.)
Anyway, I remember when Chris first told me about the idea she had for this book. I was so excited for her to write it! It sounded like a winner to me.
So she wrote it. Then came the wait for its release, which finally ended in September 2016.
It’s a really good book. (If you liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Chris’s book is up your alley.)
Questions
But of course the premise for Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter got me thinking about a couple of things. Namely:
- What if Lizzie Borden did kill her parents because something was wrong with them? (Probably they weren’t zombies, and probably they weren’t even possessed or anything like that. But what if they had been and Lizzie had an unconventional motive for killing them?)
- For the sake of argument, say they were zombies. When zombies die, what happens? Can they become ghosts?
In Theory
Theoretically, none of it can really happen because zombies don’t exist (yet).
And then there are ghosts. Currently there’s some intriguing evidence of…something. But no concrete proof. No one can definitively prove their existence. (Which brings us to another “yet.” Maybe that day is coming? Which poses another question and a post for a different day: Would you want to know ghosts are real if they could be made to appear on command?)
Lizzie Borden House Paranormal Activity
So what has been reported in the Lizzie Borden house?
Lots of stuff, including:
- Apparitions
- The sound of crying
- Disembodied voices having conversations in vacant rooms
- Footsteps
- Doors opening and closing by themselves
- And one bed in particular (in Abby Borden’s room) is sometimes made –even when guests are asleep in it!– by a ghostly presence with a penchant for tidiness
I did not come across any reports of anyone being bitten however.
Doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but would zombie ghosts manifest by trying to nibble on you? Dunno.
But does it have you thinking? Because what about the other haunted places where ghosts bite? Maybe they’re not bad or malevolent spirits after all but just hungry ghost zombies. A little food for thought for you.
However, if you’re reading this and you’ve stayed at the Lizzie Borden B&B and had any kind of encounter where you were bitten, please leave a comment. Would love to know about it!
Trivia
Did you know the maid’s cat’s head had been hacked off in addition to Lizzie’s parents being butchered to death? Found that interesting little tidbit here: http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/ma/lizzie-borden.htm
Have you ever visited the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and Museum? If not, would you want to stay in this infamous murder house? Tell us your experiences/Thoughts!
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
You have a wilder imagination than me. I never thought of zombie ghosts… because zombies are undead – and then killed, as in truly dead. I’d say the spirit of the person left during the transformation when their body “died” and became undead. Nobody’s home any longer…
That’s what I was trying to figure out. It makes sense they wouldn’t leave a ghostly essence behind but…I couldn’t help but wondering!
Ive never been to the Lizzie Borden House but it sounds a great place to visit and see ghosts!
Hey Donna! I like that they’re so very open about their ghosts. Tragic history though. Hopefully all the souls involved are now resting in peace.