If there were any skeptics in the audience at a recent Emmaus Library lecture, they must have left wondering if they really heard what they had heard.

Albert Rauber, of Northampton, widely acclaimed paranormal studies investigator for the past 45 years, presented a lecture on the supposed haunting of the Lizzie Borden House, in Fall River, Mass., 120 years after Lizzie's father and stepmother were murdered in a gruesome manner in the home Aug. 4, 1892.

For better or worse, the legend of the murder lives on in a gruesome, anonymously written poem proclaiming Lizzie's guilt in the deed.

"Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks, and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41.

"Close your door, lock and latch it, 'cause here comes Lizzie with her hatchet."

Setting the scene which led into Rauber's paranormal study of the home that still stands at 92 Second St., Fall River, Mass., Rauber said it wasn't really 40 whacks, rather records show Abby Borden was killed in her second-floor bedroom by 18 blows from what is believed to be a hatchet.

Her husband, Andrew Jackson Borden, a wealthy business owner was also killed by 11 hatchet blows as he lay resting on a downstairs couch.

While there were a number of people who could have been considered as suspects in the case, after a poorly run investigation, Lizzie Borden was tried for the murders and acquitted in a decision that still creates controversy among theorists today.

"I'm not here today to debate the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden," Rauber said. "I am just presenting electronic recordings that support the presence of spirits still in the Borden home today, who are communicating to us in our controlled studies at that site."

Rauber has a wide following among those who are fascinated by the paranormal. He was featured in the 1990s hit television series "Sightings," and has appeared in documentaries on the Travel Channel, the History Channel, Fangoria TV and other forms of media.

Rauber is a member of the American Society for Psychical Research and The American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena.

Rauber spent more than 50 hours on two occasions, at all times of the day and night, in the Borden home preparing for two television programs.

Working with television producers and technicians, Rauber used electronic voice phenomena to capture what he called "spirit voices" not clearly audible to persons involved in the study, but could be played back on the sensitive recording equipment.

Rauber said some people in the audience would clearly be able to discern the ghostly "voices," while other may have difficulty hearing the fast-paced and strange-sounding voices.

The spirit voices spoke in reaction to questions or statements posed by Rauber and the television producers. Some of the voices were straight-forward in replying to the queries, while others were more circumspect and raised questions of relevance.

While skeptics may have left the lecture still being skeptics, they had to be questioning their skepticism in light of Rauber's presentation. If nothing else, it was an evening of entertainment, even if mysteries were not wrapped up neatly and solved conclusively as in the movies or television.

Rauber was convincing and clearly passionate about his paranormal studies vocation.

Rauber referred to "probably the most exhaustive website about all things 'Lizzie Borden,' "for those whose appetites may have been whetted for their own research, Lizzieandrewborden.com.

To contact Rauber, email hauntz@comcast. net.