1. "Anybody Been "Spooked" At The B&B?"
Posted by Kat on Aug-23rd-03 at 12:44 AM

http://www.starvingwriters.org/eThis/Fiction/Mystery/Feb/fcardinal1.html


I read about spooky stuff happening there but I don't know anybody who has returned with a scary story!

Hi - I'm new in here.  I've always been interested in the Borden case. 

Anyway, I live in Mass., and I went to the Inn last weekend.  We stayed in the parents' bedroom.  It was a really great experience.  The Inn is very nice, great people who run it, nice breakfast, and the rooms are nicely decorated, a great tour at 8 PM for those who stay overnight. 

The only thing I can say is that we were FREEZING when we went to bed, and lots and lots of covers didn't help.  And, it was not exactly cold outside!  Unless the managers were kidding with us, and putting AC on, I don't know what the matter was.  Finally, we got warm later on in the night.  I'm always HOT, so I couldn't believe it for me.  Maybe they didn't want us in there!

Hello and Wecome!
We love B&B stories...where is everybody?
Do you think you are psychic or prone to experiencing phenomenon?
Was it scary at the time, or later after you thought about it?  I guess I am asking how you felt there in the house...like dream interpretation the main answer lies in your feelings/emotions.

Well, I really didn't have a bad feeling at all being there.  We were sleeping in Abby's "dressing room" next to their bedroom.  I figured old Abby must be mad at us for intruding and wanted to freeze us out. 

The funny thing is, my partner had a dream a few days later, where Lizzie appeared and said that she visited us at 4:00 a.m., but we were sleeping!  She probably protected us from Abby.  And, we did get warm later on. 

I kind of admired Lizzie myself, because what a life that must have been.  Being stuck there with the nasty stepmother, and you couldn't leave in those days unless you married or got some money, and even then, ladies did not go off on their own.  It was stifling, boring, oppressive.  As a woman, you were looked down upon if you didn't marry.  It must have been like you were a non-person.  I admire her in a sense because I know I would have wanted to do the same thing to get out of that awful life! 

Being in the house, you could see how stifling it felt.  The society was stifling at the time, the house was small, there was no place for a single woman to be independent, etc.  It must have been simply awful.  I probably would have killed myself!

Would you have killed yourself rather than kill another?  Err, 2 others?
That might be a difference right there, but some did think that Lizzie might have attempted to buy prussic acid in order to kill herself.
Also, in the papers, I think Saturday, there was a rumor that Lizzie did attempt such a thing Friday night.

BTW:  You'd think a small interior room* like the dressing room would be well-insulated, and have the better climate control.  It is thus, in my house.
Odd...

*By interior I mean having a room either side.

Hi, Cousin Sal, cool stuff!  I think if I was stuck in Lizzie's shoes I would have done more of what she did, took trips here and there, gotten involved with more groups.  I would hate feeling stuck anywhere like that.  Which makes me wonder if Lizzie had any hobbies, painting on porcelain, or the like that ladies of the era seemed to be into? 

Sniffing paint thinner?  Being a closet-nudist in her room.  A secret binger?

Well, actually Abby's dressing room did have one outside wall, with a small window.  Still, I've never been so cold in my life, except for sleeping outdoors in a tent with a crummy sleeping bag in the winter.  lol  And, we asked for extra blankets, and had about four on top of us.  It was ridiculous.  Earlier in the day, it was very warm, and we had the window AC on. 

Did I mention that they serve ax-shaped cookies at breakfast?  So cute.  No spoiled mutton stew, though. 

We also had a nice dinner that night up the street where Lizzie's church used to be.  A beautiful old building, with stained glass windows, it's now a culinary school.  Very nice - I would definitely recommend it.  They change the menu every week or so, because of what the students are learning. 

I probably would have killed myself instead of my parents.  But, to me, personally, as a woman in that era, it seems it would have been stifling.  But, I guess that's what one was used to at the time, so maybe it didn't seem so bad then, as I see it now. 

Thanks for that insight.  That reminds me of the T.V. shows where the family becomes pioneers for 3 months.  They did find out how hard it was to live back then, but that was from a modern perspective.  It was figured that , back then, they didn't really know how hard it was because yes, they were used to it.

Let's say we were the only family on the block without a computer.  Would we miss it if we never had it?
If we were the Borden girls, would we kill because daddy gave our step-mom's family a computer and DSL every month:  would we kill to get a computer?
That's why there must have been more going on.  That scenario of what they were *missing* is too simple.

Also, I was thinking about a telephone.  The Borden's didn't have one.  That could be something a life depended upon, except they were lucky to be surrounded by doctors.
But the absence of a bathtub is not life-threatening.
The thing is, I don't think many places on Second Street had a telephone.  I think that because of where the police went to make a calls.  They would probably know who had them and who hadn't.  I wonder what amenities neighbors had and if the girls compared themselves to them?

The inside room in my house also has an outside wall with a little window.  It sure is the best insulated in the whole house tho.  I knew you knew what I meant.  It's the same kind of room!

What a great story, Cousin Sal. I'm sorry I haven't checked this category in a while.
  That's also really cool about your partner's dream.  What color was Lizzie's HAIR???   
  Abby probably thought you guys were there to steal more stuff from the desk and that's why she wanted to freeze you out.
Thanks for sharing that.  I love that kind of stuff.