FINAL DEADLINE JUNE 1, 2025!

 Call for stories for the Lizzie Borden House Anthology

Everyone knows the legend of Lizzie Borden, especially the darknursery rhyme...

Lizzie Borden took an axe

Gave her mother 40 whacks.

When she saw what she had done,

Gave her father 41

Riverdale Avenue Books has teamed up with the Historical LizzieBorden house to put together an anthology of stories, under the direction ofaward-winning horror author Sèphera Girón,who has visited the house multiple times over the past few decades.

The “Official” Story of the Lizzie BordenHouse

·       LizzieBorden was born in 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Since her mother had diedwhen she was young, she had been at odds with her stepmother, Abby, who she andher older sister, Emily, believed married her father for his wealth. Theirfather, Andrew, was a prominent developer in Fall River.  

·       Lizzie grewup an upstanding member of her community, being heavily involved in the churchand performing services for the poor. As Lizzie grew older, the tension betweenthe parents and the daughters grew. Lizzie and Emily remained unmarried,bringing negative attention to the family from their peers and the sisters werecritical of the way their father was distributing his wealth to theirstepmother’s family..

·       The storysays that Lizzie, blind with rage, hacked her father and stepmother to death inthe house. The trial that followed became one of the most sensationalizedcourtroom cases in American history, attracting hundreds of tourists to FallRiver. Lizzie was acquitted due to lack of evidence and reasonable doubtalthough the fact that she destroyed the clothes she wore have convinced someof her guilt. She lived the rest of her life in relative anonymity, but herlegacy still lives on to this day.  

·       Downloadvisual assets of the Lizzie Borden House via Google Drive.  

And what we are looking for:

Short stories in this anthology can spreadacross many genres and we’re very interested in new and unique takes on thelegends and realities of the Lizzie Borden story. We’d love to see time travel,science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, romance, erotica, mysteries, etc.

Stories can be reflective of the manypossibilities of the house from the rumored theatre parties at Maplecroft, themysterious disappearance of the maid Bridget Sullivan, people who came and wentfrom the house on the murder day, the ghost cats that greet the current guestsof the bed and breakfast, what happened to Michael the caretaker, and themysterious death of the estranged Borden sisters mere days apart. Maybediscover what happened during the making of the movies and TV shows about the unsolvedmurder or various ghost-hunting escapades that had taken place in the house. Let’salso be mindful of the times these murders took place where only men werejurors, we can highlight Women’s Suffrage and Prohibition. Take us on a journeyof intrigue,  mystery, and fantasy in areimaging of the Lizzie Borden story.

We will be publishing the anthology, inhardcover, trade paperback and ebooks, and it will be available in book storesand online wherever books are sold.

We are looking for short stories of 1,000to 5,000 words in all genres and categories. Authors will be paid a $10 fee, and receive a copy of each edition ofthe book.

If you would like to send us your stories,please send them to LizzieBordenHouse@yahoo.com  and submissions@riverdaleavebooks.comor lori@riverdaleavebooks.com  with the subject “LizzieBorden.” After which,we will send you confirmation that we received your submission. If you do notreceive a confirmation from either of those three emails, you may follow upwith an email requesting confirmation.

Submissions will be open from now untilJune 1, 2025. After June 1, 2025, we will begin sending out acceptance orrejection emails for your submitted short stories. Please, do not follow up onwhether your story has been accepted.

About the editor: SèpheraGirón is the author of 20 traditionally published books under various names.Her main love is horror and most of her work embraces themes of occult,metaphysical, erotica, and suspense.

As a freelance editor for over 10 years, Sèphera has helpedhundreds of authors put their best words forward. She feels lucky that she notonly can write for a living but she can help others write for a living as well.

In recent years, Sèphera has enjoyed paranormalinvestigations from as near as Casa Loma in Toronto to the Lizzie Borden Housein Fall River and a haunted mansion in California. Her most recent trip tookher to the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the place that inspired The Overlook inThe Shining by Stephen King. Some of her adventures inspired a few of her ownbooks and stories.

Sèphera lives in Toronto.

Riverdale Avenue Books is an award-winning, New York-based boutiquepublisher with 15 imprints: Afraid, a horror imprint; The Binge Watchers Guides examining TV and film; Circlet, the latest incarnation of theclassic sci-fi and fantasy erotica imprint; Desire, an erotica/erotic romance imprint; Magnus, the award-winning nonfiction imprint of LGBTQ titles; Magnus Lit, our LGBTQ fiction imprint; Pop featuring pop culture titles; Quest, a science fiction fantasy line;Truth, an erotic memoir line; Dagger, a mystery thriller imprint; Sports and Gaming featuring sports and gaming titles; Verve featuring lifestyle titles; Hera, featuring both the true and fictional lives and loves ofwomen aged 35 and up and 120 Days, areprint imprint for LGB classics. Started in 2012 by industry veteran LoriPerkins, visit us at www.RiverdaleAveBooks.com.