urban legends - Bunny Man Bridge

There is a folk legend about a bridge in Clifton Virginia, known as Bunny Man Bridge. The story has many variations but the conclusion is that at midnight, something will kill you. Whether it’s a bright white light or a man in a bunny suit  with an axe, something will hang you from the infamous tunnel. Just the other night, my friend Chris took me there for the first time.

(image credit, Under Pseudonym)

I, personally, have never been much of a paranormal thrill-seeker. I usually try to leave that stuff alone, as I've seen some freaky stuff in my day, but Bunny Man Bridge was a right of passage for me, I suppose. Now I feel like a true local.

So  apparently after the Civil War, a hidden asylum was discovered deep in the woods of Fairfax. Homeowners became outraged that they lived so close to dangerous people, and demanded the asylum moved.

The administration transferred the patients and in 1904 the process was completed. During the transfer, some of the patients escaped and hid in the surrounding woods and forest. These individuals were lost, delusional and dangerous. All of them were found except Marcus Lawster and Douglas Griffen. The local authorities found a trail they believed belonged to them, littered with half eaten mutilated rabbits.

The trail led deep into the woods to a tunnel bridge crossing a wide creek. There they found Lawster hanging from the tunnel entrance. There was a note attached to his foot that said, “You’ll never find me no matter how hard you try! Signed, The Bunny Man.” That tunnel has been called Bunny Man Bridge ever since.

The legend says that if you walk all the way down the tunnel at around midnight the Bunny Man will grab you and hang you from the entrance of the bridge.

Strange deaths and phenomena have been connected with the Bunny Man Bridge. There was a young man from Clifton who came upon the Bridge while traveling. Later, he killed his parents and dragged their bodies into the woods to hang them from the bridge and then killed himself. In 1943, three teenagers, two men and a young woman, were at the bunny man bridge for Halloween night. The three youths were found dead, hung from the bridge with their bodies slashed open. All with notes attached to their feet saying the same thing, "You’ll never catch the Bunny Man!”

In 2001, after hearing the tale, six local students and a guide searched the area. They found mutilated bunny parts during their search and left the forest after they heard noises and saw figures moving around in the woods. (altered from source)

On my visit to Bunny Man Bridge, I did not come in contact with any axe murderer or escaped convict. I am still alive and well, and not hanging from any railroad tunnels. I suppose our mission was a success.

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Have you ever heard of The Bunny Man?

Do you have any spooky places in your neck of the woods?

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