Most urban legends feel like they belong in another time—old stories passed down by word of mouth. But this one? It’s recent. And it’s based on something that really happened.
The Bunny Man is said to be a deranged figure in a rabbit suit, lurking in the woods near Fairfax County, Virginia. People claim he chases trespassers with an axe, attacking cars, smashing windows, and sometimes even appearing beneath a certain bridge at night, waiting.
Some say he’s a ghost, the spirit of a murderous asylum escapee. Others believe he’s still alive, hiding out in the wilderness, waiting for anyone foolish enough to wander near Bunny Man Bridge after dark.
This isn’t just a campfire story. There are real police reports about him.
The True Story Behind the Bunny Man
On October 19, 1970, a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet and his fiancée were parked in a car near a construction site in Fairfax County when something slammed into their windshield.
A man, dressed in a white bunny costume, was standing outside the car, waving a hatchet.
Before they could react, the man screamed at them, shouting about trespassing, and then hurled the hatchet through the windshield, barely missing them. The couple sped off and reported the incident to police, but when officers arrived, the Bunny Man was nowhere to be found.
Ten days later, he struck again.
On October 29, 1970, a security guard found a man in a rabbit suit standing on the porch of an unfinished house, holding an axe. The man started hacking at the support beams, shouting about how people were trespassing on his land.
By the time police arrived, he was gone.
Despite weeks of investigation, the authorities never caught him. The only evidence left behind was the hatchet he threw into the couple’s windshield.
And just like that, the legend of the Bunny Man was born.
The Insane Asylum Legend
Not long after the real police reports surfaced, an even darker version of the story began circulating. This one turned the Bunny Man into something much worse.
According to the legend, back in 1904, there was an insane asylum in Clifton, Virginia. When the facility shut down, its patients were transferred elsewhere, but during the transport, one of the asylum buses crashed. Several inmates escaped into the woods.
Most were recaptured—but not Douglas Grifon.
Grifon had been locked away for slaughtering his family on Easter Sunday, and after the crash, he disappeared into the forests surrounding Fairfax County. Soon after, strange killings began.
Dead rabbits were found hanging from trees, skinned and gutted. Then, a group of locals went missing, their bodies later discovered swinging from Bunny Man Bridge, their throats slashed open.
Grifon was never caught. Some believe he died in those woods, but his spirit remains, still hunting trespassers and hanging his victims like trophies.
That’s why the bridge is still called Bunny Man Bridge today.
How the Legend Lives On
For decades, people have dared each other to visit Bunny Man Bridge at midnight. Some claim to hear laughter in the trees, or see a tall figure standing at the edge of the bridge, holding an axe.
Police still patrol the area on Halloween to keep thrill-seekers away, but sightings continue.
Is the Bunny Man still out there, waiting? Or did something else take his place—something even worse?
If you ever find yourself near Bunny Man Bridge at night, don’t stop.
And if you hear rustling in the trees, don’t look back.