Tales from Beyond

Last year I was honoured to be a judge for Rick Henry Christopher's Haunted Letter Challenge. To set the tone for the competition I posted the following letter, which was obviously not in the running but received some nice praise (thank you very much!) -

Dear Ms Wilson,

This is your 7th cousin 4 times removed contacting you from the other side. I wanted to let you know that I so appreciate you supporting me all these years by proclaiming my innocence. As you rightly point out, I was acquitted by a court of law!

But the public had made up their minds. And I must admit there was some very incriminating evidence against me: the hatchet head, the burned dress, etc. It really sealed the deal when the children made up that nursery rhyme and it spread like wildfire throughout the land. Hence my legacy is that I killed my dad and his wife.

That rhyme was way off base - I did not give my mother 40 whacks, nor my father. First of all, she was not my mother. My father married her after my beloved mom died - so "stepmother" at best, but really she was just some wanton gold-digger my dad fancied. Mrs Borden, as I called her, never liked me. I guess you can tell I never liked her. But 40 whacks? No. I mean, the coroner’s report put the whacks at about 18.

Anyway, please keep professing my innocence. For my part I will keep haunting those who say otherwise, unless of course they bring some sympathy to my story. You know, like that writer Angela Carter. She really got the scene - the oppressive heat that summer, those woollen undergarments we had to wear, the ptomaine poisoning from the rotten mutton, and the way my dad constantly berated me. You know he killed my pigeons? You know that, right? He was a nasty old man who got what he deserved...uh…well I guess I’ve said enough.

Your Cuz,

Lizbeth (Lizzie)