Legend of the Bunnyman

The legend of the Bunnyman is known by just about every person in the town of Livingston Kentucky and surrounding areas. Over the years the story has spread all across the United States. This legend that happened less than one hour away from Jellico, Tennessee even inspired the horror movie The Bunnyman Massacre.

April, 1940, Livingston, Kentucky. A man wearing a bunny costume was commonly seen wondering around the small town. The bunny man was usually seen loitering around schools, playgrounds, bus stops and anywhere else that children could be found. Because it was so close to the Easter holiday folks wasn't immediately concerned by his appearances.

When the children would talk to him and ask him who he was he would say that he was the Easter Bunny. He carried a basket filled with treats that he would give to the children. He would even give his tasty treats to adults. The only thing strange about his kindness was that instead of chocolates he always had a basket full of beef jerky. This unusual Easter treat seemed to go over well with the kids because they would go searching for the bunny man in hopes of getting some meaty treats.

This strange detail was played upon in the Bunnyman movie. It was never figured out why the man carried beef jerky or why it was his treat of choice.

The bunny man would befriend the children and gain their trust so that he could see where they lived. At night he would break into their houses, kidnap them and disappear into the night. Several mysterious murders plagued the town of Livingston during this time and at least twelve kids had gone missing.

Police was finally able to connect the kidnappings and deaths to the mysterious man in the bunny costume. He proved to be elusive as nobody knew who he really was or where he had came from. A few weeks later a report from a neighboring town claimed to have seen the bunnyman wondering the streets and approaching children. Sure enough he was seen by police entering a home around 2:00am. He was carrying a basket of beef jerky and an axe. When the police officers stopped their patrol car they said that they could hear the man humming "Here comes Peter Cottontail."

The officers yelled for the man to stop but he continued onward as if he didn't hear them. They demanded that he freeze or else they'd shoot. At that time the officers reported that the man wearing the bunny costume came running toward them with the axe above his head. Officers fired six shots at the man. When emergency personnel arrived he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police ripped off the bunny mask but did not recognize the man beneath it. The bunnyman was never able to be identified. But now there was a real problem to be solved. With the Easter bunny dead, there was nobody to tell the police where all of the kidnapped children was at.

One evening two men heard children crying from under a bridge. When they went to investigate they found an old shed with a padlock on the door. The shed was beneath the bridge, hidden from sight with bushes and trees. One of the men stayed behind and tried to calm down the children inside, while the other man went to get help.

The bridge still remains today and is called The Bunny Man Bridge. It has become a popular place for paranormal investigators and people looking for a scare especially on Halloween night. They say that you can hear the children crying and the ghost of the bunny man appears beneath the bridge.

When the police arrived they cut the padlock and found all of the missing children. The kids all appeared to be unharmed but said that they had only been fed beef jerky while locked inside. Upon searching the shack they found two different bunny man costumes, various weapons and notes that had names and addresses of various homes where children lived. They suspected that these was the names of more children that the man intended to kidnap. The shed was cleared and everything was taken into evidence. The shed was later demolished. Police was never able to determine why the bunnyman had taken the children or what he had planned to do with them.

Over the years it has been believed that the man had escaped from a mental facility. In Ohio a male patient held nurses at knife point while he escaped the facility, he was never found. It is unclear if DNA test was ever done or if they even had the technology in 1940.

The most confusing, terrifying cases to ever happen in the small community of Livingston Kentucky. True events that would later be used as inspiration for the 2014 horror movie directed by Carl Lindbergh.