Why Are We All Obsessed With Lizzie Borden Again? Astrology Might Explain It

More than 130 years after Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home, we’re talking about the lore of Lizzie Borden again. Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premiered September 17, bringing one of America’s most infamous true crime stories back into the cultural conversation. Lizzie was charged with the 1892 murders of her father and stepmother. The mystery remains: she was ultimately acquitted, and no one else was ever convicted. And because this case doesn’t have a clear answer or conclusion beyond the acquittal, the woman at the center of an unsolved murder became something much bigger than the actual case. She’s inspired a rhyme, movies, books, and countless theories. And now, there’s Monster.

So why are we so fascinated with Lizzie Borden again right now? Astrology might have the answer to that question!

Venus in Scorpio Wants to Look at What We’re Not Supposed to Talk About

Venus entered Scorpio on September 10, just one week before Monster premiered, and if you know anything about Scorpio, you know this sign isn’t particularly interested in keeping things light or casual. Venus rules what attracts us, what we desire, and what we find beautiful or fascinating. When Venus moves through Scorpio, our attention can turn toward what’s hidden underneath the surface: sex, death, secrets, power, obsession, and what is considered taboo. Sound a little familiar? This version of Lizzie’s story leans directly into those themes. Monster explores repression, sexuality, desire, and female rage while taking significant creative liberties with a case that has already accumulated more than a century of mythology. Netflix describes Lizzie as a woman confined by the expectations of Victorian life, while the series imagines parts of her sexuality and relationships that aren’t established by the historical record. That distinction may be part of why Lizzie remains so fascinating. We don’t actually know exactly what happened inside that house. Scorpio loves a mystery, but even more, Scorpio wants to know what’s underneath it. Scorpio wants the truth!

Venus Square Pluto Turns Fascination Into Obsession

Now this is where the timing gets even more interesting. As Monster arrived on Netflix, Venus in Scorpio was also squaring Pluto in Aquarius, an aspect that was exact on September 15 and remained active through the premiere. Pluto is associated with power, death, destruction, secrets, and transformation. When Pluto comes into contact with Venus, attraction can become quite intense. We don’t just want to look at something; we want to understand it from every angle and figure out why we can’t stop thinking about it. This energy helps explain our fascination with Lizzie Borden because our cultural relationship with her has never really been about the facts alone. There’s an emotional attachment, as well as a desire to understand how something so shocking could happen and still have so few answers. Lizzie was acquitted in 1893, but the murders remain officially unsolved. And yet her name has become synonymous with the crime anyway. We’ve spent generations filling in the blanks, turning a real woman into a character, a wicked Halloween costume, and one of the most recognizable names in American true crime.

Pluto in Aquarius asks us to examine the stories a culture tells collectively, including who gets turned into an icon, a villain, or a monster. And Monster quite literally asks us to look at that word again through a complicated woman.

Maybe We’re Not Just Fascinated With Lizzie

There’s an additional layer to uncover here, too. The new season is the first installment of Monster centered on a woman, and star Ella Beatty has described the story as an exploration of female rage and repression. The series shows Lizzie within a world where women’s sexual, emotional, and social freedom was severely restricted. That doesn’t tell us whether the real Lizzie Borden committed murder, and astrology can’t answer that question either, but the stars might help explain why this particular story feels so compelling again.

Venus in Scorpio wants us to look at desires we’ve been taught to hide. Pluto asks us to face and confront power and the happenings a culture would rather bury than explore out in the open. When we put all of that energy together, suddenly a 134-year-old story about a woman, violence, sexuality, repression, and a mystery that nobody has ever completely solved feels surprisingly current. Perhaps we keep returning to Lizzie Borden because we still don’t know exactly what happened. Or maybe it’s because every generation looks at her story and sees something a little different.