The Legend of the Bunny Man

Spring is a time of merriment in many communities as people come together to celebrate the break from cold weather and take part in outdoor events. Children look forward to participating in egg hunts every year and seeing the decorations featuring friendly bunnies and baby chicks all throughout town.

While bunnies may be a cute and cuddly symbol of spring, in Fairfax County, Virginia, many residents have an adverse feeling toward these otherwise adorable creatures, thanks to their local urban legend of the Bunny Man.

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What is behind the story of the Bunny Man?

The tale of the Bunny Man is an urban legend from the city of Clifton in Fairfax County, Virginia. While many of the so-called facts linked to this story have been debunked over time, there are some elements of truth to it that have helped keep this grisly tale alive for decades.

The Legend of the Bunny Man

There are many different variations of the legend of the Bunny Man, but the one that seems to be the most commonly shared is also the most haunting and sinister of them all.

According to the story, in 1904, there was an insane asylum located in the town of Clifton. Many of the town’s residents didn’t feel comfortable having a mental institution so close to their homes, so they came together to have the asylum shut down. This meant all the patients had to be relocated.

One night, the patients were traveling by bus, heading to Lorton prison, located in a neighboring town. As they passed through the narrow bridge on Colchester Road in Fairfax County, the bus suddenly swerved and crashed. The patients didn’t take a second for granted and quickly escaped from the overturned bus and into the woods to freedom.

Unfortunately for them, local authorities were able to capture the escaped inmates and send them on their way to Lorton prison.

They caught all of them except one.

The Bunny Man – Douglas Griffon

The mental patient who managed to escape the law was a man named Douglas Griffon. The legend says that after fleeing from the crash site, Griffon disappeared. 

Several weeks had passed, and the local residents began to notice rabbit corpses lying throughout the woods. It is believed that Griffon was catching the rabbits, killing them, and eating them to stay alive. This activity continued for several months until Halloween night when the story took a sinister turn.

The Halloween Massacre

On Halloween, a group of kids were hanging out around the Colchester Road bridge when they saw a bright light similar to an orb. Mesmerized by it, the children kept their eyes on it, following it into the woods. 

The next morning, the people in town woke up to a harrowing discovery. The mutilated bodies of the children were gutted and hanging from the bridge. It was assumed that the mental patient, Griffon, was responsible for the crime, But he was never found.

According to the lore, if you visit the bridge on Halloween night at midnight, you will end up just like the ill-fated children on the bridge.

There are several factors to the story that don’t add up, such as the year it happened and the location of the asylum. But just like any other urban legend, these fictional stories are always based on a small kernel of truth. You just have to know where to hunt for the clues.

The True Origin of the Bunny Man

Brian Conley, an archivist for the Fairfax County government, had heard the legend of the Bunny Man all throughout his childhood and into his adult life. He worked for the county’s library as a historian and mentioned how visitors and locals alike would often stop by to ask if the tale of the Bunny Man was real. 

He grew tired of telling people he wasn’t sure and decided to do a little digging into the story himself. He discovered what he refers to as the Bunny Man’s genesis event.

In 1970, a couple was parked in a driveway near the Colchester Road bridge when they endured a horrifying experience. Someone appeared to them out of nowhere, yelling about them trespassing on his property. 

Before they could drive away, the angry man threw a hatchet at their car. Because it was late at night, the couple didn’t get a good look at the man, but they said he appeared to be dressed in white or light, pastel-colored clothing, and he may or may not have had something on his head.

As most urban legends go, like the childhood game of “Telephone,” the story began to morph out of proportion very quickly. Conley believes that when the news story of the couple getting chased off the property was reported in the local newspaper, the reference to something being on the man’s head was altered and referred to as bunny ears instead in an effort to shed new light on the popular old legend.

The Hunt for the Truth Continues

Over time, children and teens swapped colorful tales about a hideous man in a bunny suit chasing kids into the woods with his hatchet. Some of the stories included that the Bunny Man killed and ate rabbits to survive, while other versions simply had him dressed in a bunny suit.

The story has received recognition throughout the country, with features on TV shows referring to the old bridge as being one of the scariest places on earth. Although the story can easily be dismissed as fictional, the origin of the story and the reports in the newspaper make it difficult to shrug off.

Was the Bunny Man a Murderer?

Did the Bunny Man actually exist in Fairfax County, and did he really commit the monstrous crimes that his legend is known for? Researchers have spent hours searching through old newspaper archives and computer databases at the local library to find the truth. 

They looked at murders reported by the press between 1872 and 1973 to try to find a common link. While they found more than 500 murders occurred during that time frame, and several met some of the criteria of the Bunny Man legend, the true origins of the story still haven’t been found.

Happy Spring

Spring can be a joyous time of year, but if you find yourself growing tired of that warm and fuzzy feeling, you might prefer spending some time hunting for dark entities instead of colorful eggs.

Gather your friends and schedule a ghost tour with us at US Ghost Adventures, where you can learn about the dark and haunted history of popular cities throughout the country.

Be sure to check out our blog for spooky stories and top ten lists on all things haunted across the nation. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more details about our ghost tours.

Sources:

• https://wamu.org/story/17/10/31/true-story-bunnyman-northern-virginias-gruesome-urban-legend/
• https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/local-history/bunnyman
• https://www.spookyappalachia.com/the-bunny-man-of-fairfax/