It’s October which means it’s time to get a little freaky. And as we kick off our month of spooks we must address the murderess mistress of Maplecroft. The subject of Lizzie Borden’s love interests has been ALMOST as hotly debated as the mystery of her parents brutal murder. If Lizzie Borden did whack her parents off – no pun intended- then WHY? Was she a repressed lesbian forced to deny her lover? Was she a spoiled brat trying to get her own way? We’ll never truly know but we sure as hell can guess. So join us in the queer darkness of the Fall River tragedy. Today we cover an individual who is more an icon of queer pop culture and than an actual figure of queer history. The infamous Lizzie Borden. And this is not to say that Lizzie was not gay or bisexual, there is certainly some evidence which we will produce for the listener to decide for themselves. However, Lizzie’s true role in queer history is as a dark legend and a wistful fantasy. The mystery of her sexuality is ALMOST as hotly debated as the mystery of her parents death. And so for more than a century the whispers of a lesbian ax murderer have filled the halls of queer spaces, spilled onto the pages of queer erotica, and even graced the screens of queer cinema. Now let us begin the tale of the Mistress of Maplecroft.  Andrew Jackson Borden struggled to make ends meet as a young man. Despite inheriting a small estate from his father he had little financial stability. This changed after some prudent investments in the textile and manufacturing industries. And by the time Borden was middle aged he had earned a small fortune and bought a large estate at 92 Second Street. However, he was a frugal man and refused to install electricity and indoor plumbing or add many of the luxuries he could very well afford. The estate alone was worth over $300,000 at the time of Borden’s death, an estimated 8 million by today’s standards. The deliberate unsanitary conditions would cause many problems in the future, and could have contributed to the death of Andrew’s first wife Sarah. We do not know when Sarah and Adrew were married but in 1851 they brought their first daughter into the world, Emma Lenora. Nine years later on July 19, 1960 Lizzie Andrew Borden was born. Her father gave her his name when it became apparent he would not have a son. Most likely because of Sarah’s declining health. Sadly, just a few years later Sarah Borden would die after a slow progression of spinal disease and uterine congestion. Which was common for women who had borne more than one child during this time period. The unsanitary conditions of the time and uncleanliness of the Borden house certainly did not help. Three years after Sarah’s death Andrew remarried in 1865 to Abby Gray. The Borden sisters struggled with their relationship with their stepmother. Though Lizzie was only 5 years old when Abby came into the picture, she grew up convinced that Abby had only married Andrew for his wealth. It seems likely that Emma, who was 14 when the couple married, most likely instilled this thought into Lizzie. Regardless, the three women fought often and for the last part of Abby’s life Lizzie and her stepmother hardly spoke – even though they lived in the same house. As a young child, Lizzie was known to be lively and a bit eccentric. She did well in school but for some reason did not go off to college. Again, this despite her family’s wealth and ability to send her to any school in the country – which allowed women of course. There are A LOT of speculations about why Lizzie never left home. Some of the most prominent center around Andrews control of his daughters. Many have speculated that Andrew was abusive, others have proposed that his daughters were merely lazy and spoiled. Another strange thing which adds to this speculation is that both L...