The Bunnyman is a scary legend about an escaped mental patient who haunts a bridge in Clifton, Virginia.

After the civil war Fairfax County, Virginia became more populated and eventually an insane asylum was built there. No one wanted to live near the asylum and because of the public outrage the institution was shut down.

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. Most 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 bunnies.

The trail led deep into the woods to a tunnel bridge crossing a wide creek. There they found Marcus 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 has been connected with the Bunny Man Bridge. There was a young man from Clifton, Virginia 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.