It’s time to dive into three more of the creepiest, weirdest, and saddest urban legends from around the world.
Bunny Man Bridge
In Fairfax County, Virginia, sits the Colchester Overpass, a small bridge that has become a hub of intrigue and mystery over recent years.
According to legend, a convicted murderer (or sometimes a “mental patient”), Douglas Griffon, escaped during a prison exchange in 1904. Griffon disappeared into the woods and as the weeks went by, wild rabbits were found butchered. Then, on Halloween, a group of teens went down to the overpass to cause trouble, but as the sun rose the next day, the townspeople found the kids strung up from the bridge – skinned and gutted like rabbits.
Variations of the legend exist, but at its core is the phantom murderer who eats bunnies and kills anyone who trespasses under or around “his” bridge. According to some, his name is not derived from his diet, but the fact that he is said to wear an old bunny costume and – believe it or not – this is the unlikely kernel of truth behind the Bunny Man legend.
Although this urban legend gained prominence in the 2000s, its bizarre origins lay in October of the 1970s, where a young army cadet and his fiancée were attacked in there car by “a man wearing a white bunny suit”. This eerie figure broke their front passenger window with a hatchet, screaming that they were on private property before the couple fled.
If this wasn’t urban-legend-y enough, the couple described the man as wearing a white suit with “bunny ears”. Although the fiancée maintained the headwear resembled a white conical hat, closer to a KKK hood, the bunny description stuck and believe it or not further incidents occurred.
The second police-documented incident occurred ten days after the first – October 29th – when a security guard approached a man standing ominously on the porch of a semi-built home. The man – wearing a grey, black and white bunny costume – began chopping into the post with an axe, again insisting the security guard was trespassing.
According to Fairfax County Archives, the Bunny Man appeared several more times in the last few months of 1970, before slipping into the realms of legend.
As of 2025, The Bunny Man, or Bunnyman, has inspired a horror movie franchise, merchandise and countless urban legend hunters. Although its current incarnations are heavily influenced by fiction, The Bunny Man’s eerie origins remain bizarre fact.
The Goatman’s Bridge
Sticking to the theme of bridges and human-animal hybrids, this historic bridge in Cooper Canyon, Texas is said to be haunted by another sinister figure.
Also known as The Old Alton Bridge, the legend goes that the infamous Goatman is the vengeful spirit if a black goat farmed named Oscar Washburn, who lived close to the bridge with his family. In August 1938, Washburn was said to have been accosted by Klansmen who were threatened by his success and fuled by racism, taken to the bridge and hung from it, but when they looked down, they found the noose empty and Oscar was nowhere to be seen. Panicked, the Klansmen went back to the family home and burnt it down, murdering Oscar’s wife and children. Now, people are warned to stay away from the bridge, as Oscar’s vengeful spirit is said to have shifted into a half-goat like monstrosity who stalked and kills those who cross the bridge.
As is often the way with legends, there’s no actual reports of a murdered goat farmer who lived in or around the bridge. That being said, the legend itself addresses part of Texas’s darkest history – the lynching of black people in the late 19th to mid 20th century.
In fact, over 700 documented lynchings are said to have taken place in Texas alone, often witnessed by hundreds to thousands of people – even as many as 10,000 in one horrific incident in 1916 Waco.
So although the details of the Oscar Washburn story is a work of fiction, there are plenty of other real-life occurrences across Texas and the United States and that is the real horror that haunts the Goatsman’s Bridge.
Hanako-san
One of Japan’s most notorious urban legends, Hanako-san or Toire no Hanako-san, is said to be the spirit of a young girl who haunts school bathrooms. Although her cause of death and background vary from playground to playground, some popular variations include her being murdered, taking her own life, or dying during a World War II air raid.
Much like her western cousin, Bloody Mary, Hanako-san can be summoned by entering the girls’ toilet, knocking three times on the third stall and asking if she is present. If she is, she will reply, appear, and pull the player into the toilet.
The legend itself is thought to have originated in the 1950s, but Hanako-san’s popularity has surged in recent years, resulting in manga, anime, and even inspiring a Japanese idol, 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-san.
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