Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Bunny Man & The Watcher House
27 Plays3 years ago
In this week's episode, Lauren uncovers the urban legend of The Bunny Man - a story that came out of two events from Fairfax County, Virginia involving a man in a bunny costume wielding an axe! While Felicia explores "The Watcher" House in Westfield, New Jersey in which The Broaddus family started receiving disturbing letters from a stalker just days after they purchased the house. Listen to hear all their creepy contents...
Do you have a podcast, short film, event or any creative project to promote? We would love to plug your work in our podcast for free. Please DM us on Instagram @sinistersisterspodcast or email sinistersisterspodcast666@gmail.com and see if you end up on next week's episode! Please send us the title, logline, and commercial copy that's ideally less than 50 words.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to the Sinister Sisters podcast. I'm Lauren. I'm Felicia. We're best friends. And we like spooky stuff. We do.
TV Show Recommendations and Observations
00:00:23
Speaker
And we're back this week, another little February episode, but we're, we're coming in with some recommendations to start. So this is actually going to be, I just realized when we were talking about how many weeks until this comes out, this might be a little delayed, but I've been watching Love is Blind season two.
00:00:43
Speaker
I was totally obsessed with the show in the pandemic. I remember season one loved it. And now I'm just super psyched that there's a season two. It's a little sad because I feel like the the people are not as likable as the season one people. And that I think is just like the struggle of reality TV. You got to have, you know.
00:01:05
Speaker
likable people, the people starting drama, you got to have all the tasks. You said it's the second season? Yeah, it also feels a little bit like the Tiger King thing, where when we watch season one, there was nothing else going on. So it was just like, oh my gosh, how incredible this new content when we're stuck inside.
00:01:28
Speaker
And now there's something about it where I'm like, well, do I want to spend all my time watching this when there's like better things to do and watch? But I still really like the concept and it's still entertaining. And I've also, I've kept up with continuing the series Pam and Tommy. I think I talked about it on one of our other episodes, but it's just so good. It's so fun to see them play Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.
00:01:54
Speaker
And Lily James is just like, so transformed, like her doing her voice, her doing her like, like her fake little eyebrows and all of it. It's just so entertaining. And I also feel like it's just like, I don't know, it's it's just really good performances. It's very well written. You love all the characters. I'm just really having a good time.
00:02:17
Speaker
That's amazing.
Felicia's Theater Teaching Aspirations
00:02:19
Speaker
OK, so I have a really weird one. It's not really a recommendation. It's just something that I thought you would laugh at. Yes. So I have started to create for myself a YouTube playlist of high school productions of random musicals and plays. Yes, that's what we all need. Yeah, yeah. And sorry, not just high school, also like community theater, just plays that I want to like, if you don't know, I'm in training to be a theater teacher.
00:02:45
Speaker
that maybe I've read but I haven't like actually seen and don't really have the opportunity to see because it's not you know live right here right now and so an example of one that I watched that
00:02:59
Speaker
I had heard of before, but and I think they might have even done a production of it in my hometown, but I'd never seen it. Is zombie prom? Oh, yes, I have. You know, I don't know it well. Like I, I, I know it exists and I know it's done pretty frequently, but yeah.
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's basically like a high school and this like kind of nuclear plant that gets exploded or something. And I'm not sure that it's a great musical, like it's not as good as like Little Shop or something like that, but it is really, really fun and I never like
00:03:36
Speaker
Considered seeing like zombies on stage, but it was very fun and the high school production I watched was actually really really good and and this is just something that I love the principal was played by a wheelchair user and She was outrageously good. Oh, like so freaking good And it just made me so happy That's incredible
00:04:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was really, really fun.
Nostalgia with Classic TV Shows
00:04:03
Speaker
So I've been creating like a playlist of like those kinds of shows like stuff that like I'm not going to get a chance to see in person anytime soon. But there's illegal productions on YouTube. And then the other thing that I just want to this is like super random, but I had turned on the other night and I used to watch it a lot when I was younger. But it's on Hulu right now. And that's I love Lucy.
00:04:23
Speaker
If you want some simple joy, just simple joy, I Love Lucy is so much fun. Obviously iconic. I never even saw
The Bunny Man Legend: Origins and Attacks
00:04:33
Speaker
the new Nicole Kidman movie. That's what I was going to say now. You have to watch the new Nicole Kidman movie. Yes. But it's just, I don't know. There's something about it that, especially for its time, it's just so incredible to watch.
00:04:47
Speaker
Comedy and the slapstick still hits in the same way and it was like such a nice little like random watch There's a lot of those really old shows on Hulu right now. So if you're feeling yes, it's like my Golden Girls Golden Girls the Brady Bunch is on there. Like there's a lot of those kind of shows on there right now the OG Adams family I like watching that too sometimes. Oh my god, so good. So good. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I
00:05:13
Speaker
Well, this week, I'm covering a good old urban legend, which is the bunny man. I'm already terrified. Yeah, right? I mean, my first thought was all those scary Easter bunny images of older Easter bunnies in malls that are just terrifying.
00:05:39
Speaker
It pretty much all the pictures of the bunny man look like that. But there are many variations, of course, but most include a man wearing a rabbit costume who attacks people with an axe or hatchet. One of those. Very scary. Very scary. Very scary. So the two incidents that I'm going to cover. So one happened in Fairfax County, Virginia in 1970. And that's really how the story began.
00:06:08
Speaker
The stories spread throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, but most of the sightings occur around Colchester Overpass, which is a southern railway overpass that's right near Clifton, Virginia. It's actually sometimes referred to as Bunnyman Bridge because of how many stories.
00:06:30
Speaker
about the bunny man there. So the versions of the legend have variations on his name, why he's attacking people, what weapons he uses, who the victims are, what the costume looks like if he's wearing one in the story. Sometimes the stories end up with him dying. They're sort of like a tragic end for the bunny. Some versions of his victims have been found mutilated.
00:06:58
Speaker
Some people claim to even have seen the ghost of the bunny man now that he's maybe dead, who's said to come out at his place of death every year on Halloween, one of those good ones. But there's one main guy whose name is Brian A. Conley, and he's this historian archivist. Is that how you say that? Works in the archives. And he works at
00:07:24
Speaker
the or worked at the Fairfax County Public Library, and he's kind of the main researcher on this legend. So he was able to find those two true incidents of a man in a bunny costume threatening people with an axe. And these two reports happened 10 days apart in Virginia. So the first incident took place, I mean, right at the spooky time. So on October 19, 1970,
00:07:50
Speaker
And it was US Air Force Academy cadet Robert Bennett and his fiance. They were visiting some relatives in Virginia. And around midnight, they were coming home from a football game. So they were going to visit an uncle. They parked their car across the street from his house. And as they were sitting in the front seat with the car running, they noticed something moving outside their rear view mirror. I mean, window.
00:08:20
Speaker
I got you. Maybe looking through the rear view mirror into the rear window. Either way, perfect urban legend story set up. Yes, right. So moments later, the front passenger window was smashed and they saw a white clad figure standing near that broken window. So Bennett turned the car around while the man was screaming at them for trespassing.
00:08:47
Speaker
including you're on private property, I have your tag number threatening, screaming at him. And while they were driving away, they found a hatchet on the car floor that had come through the window. So pretty freaky. I mean, it's a really scary, real thing that happened. So when the police asked for a description of the man, there was a little bit of discrepancy between Bennett and his fiance.
00:09:15
Speaker
Bennett said that he was wearing a white suit with long bunny ears, but his fiance disagreed. She thought it was a, it's actually the word is called a white caperote, which I've never heard said out loud, but it's the like pointed hat in the Catholic faith. But most famously, it's, you know, been appropriated by the KKK.
00:09:39
Speaker
So I feel I'm on the fiance side here. I mean, it's still terrifying to have a KKK member throw a hatchet through your window of your car, but I don't know about the bunny suit thing. Yeah. But they both remember seeing his face.
00:09:57
Speaker
but because it was so dark, they couldn't tell what his race was or any more defining features. So Bennett actually got the hatchet back from the police after they examined it, which I've never heard before. I just don't know why I've never thought about like weapons being returned to the victims, but I guess that's what happens. Weird. When they're done with it. Yeah, they examined it.
00:10:24
Speaker
So the second report occurred on October 29th,
Cultural Impact of the Bunny Man
00:10:28
Speaker
1970, and this was a construction security guard whose name is Paul Phillips. So he was, because he was a security guard, was investigating this man. So he approached this man standing on the porch of an unfinished home. So a home that was in construction, he walked up to this guy and saw that, and he says that the man was wearing
00:10:51
Speaker
a gray, black, and white bunny costume. He was around 20 years old, five foot eight, weighing about 175 pounds. So we definitely have more details there. And I mean, if he said it was a bunny suit, maybe these are linked accounts. But the man began chopping at a porch post with this long handled ax saying, you're trespassing. If you come any closer, I'll chop off your head.
00:11:20
Speaker
So Phillips went back to his car, got his gun, and when he returned, the bunny man had vanished into the surrounding trees. Super scary. But the police opened investigations on both of these incidents and both were unfortunately closed with just like a lack of evidence.
00:11:40
Speaker
So in the weeks following these incidents, more than 50 people contacted the police claiming to have seen the bunny man. So I know it's a lot of people and several newspapers, including the Washington Post, reported that the bunny man had eaten a man's runaway cat. No, but there are at least four other post articles mentioning this bunny man. You can read them. They're kind of interesting.
00:12:08
Speaker
And of those 50 people who contacted the police, people reported all kinds of crazy things. Everything from a bunny man disemboweling and stringing kids off of that coal-chester pass that I mentioned. That's so brutal. Right?
00:12:26
Speaker
I just don't really understand how things like this happen. Like if people are just trying to get their five minutes of fame or... Yeah. Because that, I mean, that feels so extreme. That's like, that would be a huge news story. So like that feels... Right. And like who were the kids? Yeah. Who were the kids? Where are they?
00:12:42
Speaker
had families, I assume. There were reports of a lunatic asylum escapee who lived within the trees and fed on bunny carcasses. But the other interesting part of this story is that it was a stressful time in the area where it was going through that change from being a rural environment to a suburban housing situation.
00:13:10
Speaker
horse ranches and family farmhouses were being torn down. They were being replaced by these suburban neighborhoods. I'll talk about that a little later. Maybe the bunny man was a kind of disgruntled rural person whose land was being taken away.
00:13:30
Speaker
But in 1973, Patricia Johnson, a student at the University of Maryland submitted a research paper, and it chronicled precisely 54 variations on the two incidents. So there's a lot of information kind of circling around. As I said, they were unfortunately just like the cases were closed. But
00:13:50
Speaker
I guess the legacy of the Bunny Man, so Colchester Overpass was built in 1906. It's the site of a Civil War era railroad station. Knowing that history and also just like these rumors of the Bunny Man, it's become this popular destination for paranormal.
00:14:12
Speaker
enthusiasts, and interest always increases around Halloween. So starting in 2003, authorities had to begin controlling access to the area during that time. And during Halloween 2011, there were over 200 people, some people had even traveled from Pennsylvania, who were turned away during this 14 hour traffic checkpoint into the area.
00:14:38
Speaker
So this one overpass is definitely a site of a ton of tourists coming to check it out. So I think all of that's just interesting to know that it's still this crazy popular area. There's also a 2011 slasher film that is called Bunny Man. That's an exploitation style version of the story.
00:15:04
Speaker
If you want to check that out, there's a great lore episode on the Amazon TV show version of lore. I think it's actually the second episode of season one. So you can check that out. But I just think it's, it's such an interesting story. The other thing that I thought was so cool that there's now this group of, I guess, kind of like artists, mostly or creative kind of people that's called the bunny man bridge collective.
00:15:33
Speaker
And they built this group that
Personal Encounter with a Coyote
00:15:36
Speaker
is built on the idea that suburbia is lonely. And so kind of using this idea of the bunny man as their icon for fighting against suburbia. So they are focused on building better relationships between neighbors. And they have all these different events. It's kind of beautiful where they create. But why the bunny man? Why the bunny man as their leader? I don't know.
00:16:03
Speaker
I don't know. It's really interesting. People are very passionate about this idea of him as this underdog or this rebel fighting back against the status quo. I'm like, guys, he threw an axe at people. Yeah.
00:16:22
Speaker
the legend of killing children around him. It seems we're eating bunny carcasses in the woods. Like why are we rallying behind him? I don't really know. But yeah, this group like has events where they show artwork and like, bring local bands out and have food and drinks, just to like get people, you know, to know their neighbors. But I just think it's so funny to know like, that this
00:16:49
Speaker
kind of wild urban legend has this legacy. But the real summary or what they actually think was going on is that he was likely a man that was unhappy that the woods were being torn down to build these houses. And now it's like he's either this
00:17:10
Speaker
terrifying whimsical horror creature like it or Donnie Darko or something. Or he's this apparently like icon for local artists as like he fought back for the little guy. But the pictures are terrifying of like all these different ideas of what he looked like. And I just like the idea of a man called the bunny man.
00:17:38
Speaker
Absolutely. That's horrifying. And it's funny because there was actually like a bunny Easter bunny story from my hometown too that was like about an Easter bunny, a guy in a suit that like kidnapped a child and like dumped him in a dumpster and blah, blah, blah. Oh, really? Is it a real story? Or it was like people made it up? I don't know. Unclear? I don't know. Both. Hard to say. Probably made up. I don't know. Hard to say. I love it.
00:18:05
Speaker
I heard it when I was a kid, so suspicious. But nice. That's super creepy. I think it's that same
Creepy Story Submissions
00:18:12
Speaker
thing of like anything that's what's wrong. Nothing. I just I should have said this at the start of the episode. I had a crazy real life encounter with something. I can't believe I didn't even tell you. Say now.
00:18:24
Speaker
So I'm just inserting a story about myself. I was walking Rufus at like 4 or 5 p.m. It was still light outside in my apartment complex and my apartment complex has like a little bit of woods but like very little and once you're like beyond the woods there's a very busy street. So it's like not in the middle of nowhere by any means.
00:18:48
Speaker
and I was walking Rufus and I saw a coyote come out of the woods for the first time in my entire life. It was broad daylight, just like a football field away. There were like kids playing soccer and I just saw a giant coyote and I'm like on the phone.
00:19:07
Speaker
Rufus didn't even know. Rufus didn't even see it because I scooped him up and I said, we're going inside. Oh, my God. Yeah. Well, that's what you got to do. You got to just run. Run. I was like, it was like close enough. I don't even know how to describe distance, but it was less than a basketball court away. Oh, my God. Still scary. I was on one end of the basketball court. And my mom on the phone is like, no, it's not a coyote. And I'm like, it is like wolf tail. Not down in Texas. Yes, that's what I felt like.
00:19:36
Speaker
But anyway, that's my scary wildlife story of the week. I just could not believe that just alone coyote. I also felt kind of like, like you were talking about your other story, but I felt concerned where I was like, should you be here coyote? Go somewhere else. Are you okay? Are you injured? Are you?
00:19:57
Speaker
Do you have rabies? What's happening? Right. And they're like, they really look like wolves. Yeah. They're like big dogs. Oh, so scary. Anyway, sorry for the random tidbit. No, please. That's so stressful.
00:20:17
Speaker
Do you have a freaky topic you want us to cover on the podcast? We're always looking for new ideas, and we want to hear from you. And this week, we have a new ask for you, our sweet and strange listeners. We've heard a few of you have had real encounters with the paranormal.
00:20:33
Speaker
If you want to hear your stories read on the podcast, send them to us. Don't be shy. Anything goes. Anything strange, unusual, sinister, spooky. Send them to us on Instagram at sinister sisters podcast or at our email sinister sisters podcast, 666 at gmail.com. Now back to the show.
The Watcher House: Introduction and Fear
00:21:06
Speaker
Okay, so this week I am talking about the Watcher House from Westfield, New Jersey. And
00:21:16
Speaker
This is kind of like a weird stalker story. And so this family, Maria and Derek brought us and they have three children. They bought this house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. And it's a big house, six bedrooms, $1.4 million. And in 2014,
00:21:41
Speaker
They purchased this house. They started doing renovations on it. And three days after closing on the house, they received a very strange letter. No. So I'm not going to, I'm going to read some little tidbits I found online of for a variety of these letters, but somewhere in the first one, it says this, 657 Boulevard has been the subject of my family for decades now.
00:22:11
Speaker
as it approaches its 110th birthday. I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. Do you know the history of this house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out. I know.
00:22:38
Speaker
You just give back the deed to your house at that point. Right. So they get this letter. They're like, wow, that's really weird. And Westfield, New Jersey is like a very like one of the safest towns in America, like and the wife had actually grown up in this area not too far away and they were moving back to the area. And so they were like, this is very strange, but maybe it's just like a weird prank.
00:23:06
Speaker
we're not going to like worry about it right away. And then they started receiving more letters. Oh my God. And by this person who calls himself, he signs the letters, the watcher. Okay, so here's some more snippets.
00:23:23
Speaker
Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names, I will call to them and draw them to me. So then he starts bringing up their three children in his letters. And this is when the family gets very freaked out.
00:23:46
Speaker
And he clearly is watching them. Like in later letters, he talks about seeing one of the daughters like painting on the porch. It's just really, it's really gross. That's so gross. Yeah. And he knows things like about the house. Like he says, will the young blood play in the, he always refers to the children as young blood, which is weird. Will the young blood play in the basement or are they too afraid to go down there alone? I would be very afraid if I were them. Is it far away from the rest of the house?
00:24:15
Speaker
Oh, it is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs, you would never hear them scream. Oh my God. It's just horrifying. So they contact the owners they bought the house from and they're the Woods family and they lived in that house for 23 years and they had never received a letter like this except one right before they moved out.
00:24:38
Speaker
But they thought it was some weird prank and just threw it away. So they didn't even have the letter anymore. But they were like, we never had anything like this. We don't know what this is. And I think in 2015, they actually tried to sue the previous owners for not disclosing there was strange stalker issues with this house. But I don't think that actually really went anywhere.
00:25:03
Speaker
What happens is Maria and Derek are kind of stuck with this house because it starts to get some media traction that this is going on. And when they try to sell it, nobody will buy it. So they're stuck with this house that they are too afraid to move into. So they end up moving in with like Maria's parents or something. And it's just freaking sitting there because they're they're scared, which I think is pretty understandable. Yeah, makes sense.
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll just I mean, I have a whole list of quotes. So I'll just I'll read through a couple more before I move on. But all the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. I pass by many times a day. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. It's just very bad. Scary.
00:25:58
Speaker
And another letter, they say, maybe a car accident, maybe a fire, maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you feel sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.
00:26:19
Speaker
So it's clear that they are trying to stop this family from moving into the house. And so the police, they start trying to interview neighbors, see who this can be. And there was a couple of neighbors that were sort of like of interest, but there was just no proof. And even though this is 2014, I haven't found anything about this in the story, but my instinct is like, are there not cameras?
00:26:47
Speaker
in their home security
Broaddus Family's Struggle and Resolution
00:26:49
Speaker
systems at a $1.4 million house. Because those are literally showing up in their mailbox. So I'm like, somebody is coming and dropping them off at the house. You're just never catching them in the act. So very strange, very strange.
00:27:06
Speaker
they then decide because they can't sell the house. So they were like, okay, well, what if we sell it to a developer who can just tear it down? And the developer that was going to do this was like, okay, great, I'll tear it down and then split the property into two homes. And then, I mean, it'll kind of erase the history of this house and people can move on.
00:27:29
Speaker
And the neighborhood planning board got like the request for this and they rejected it because each plot would be like a little bit too small. And the Bronis family were like so mad because they were like, listen, we bought this very expensive house that we are not living in. And we're too scared to live in in this neighborhood that someone in this neighborhood is like causing all of this. Like you won't even let us get rid of the lands. Like what do we do?
00:27:57
Speaker
So in 2017, they finally got someone to rent the house at least, but they put in their lease agreement that if they received any letters, they could get out of the lease. Wow. And while they were there, they did get a letter that just said something about, we're watching, who are you? And something that had a lot of anger around the owners. So it's very bad. And then I know, right?
00:28:27
Speaker
And then the part of this that kind of, I don't know, sends the story in a different direction is that different people in the neighborhood, after the neighborhood board declared that they could not
00:28:43
Speaker
tear down the house as what the property. People in the neighborhood started receiving letters that seemed also mysterious that said like, friends of the Broadus family and like had basically kind of threatening notes about various things. And later that was revealed to be written by Derek Broadus.
00:29:12
Speaker
So yeah, so there was then, so Derek Broad has basically said like, this whole thing has like ruined my family's life. My wife and I are super paranoid. I'm depressed. She is having a lot of issues. Obviously, they're having money issues, I guess, because they own this house that they can't live in. And
00:29:30
Speaker
They were he was so angry at the neighborhood for not helping them get out of this, that they I guess he just wanted them to feel the fear that he had felt. And so he started writing letters to kind of do that. And the issue is that is that people were then like maybe he was writing letters the whole time from the beginning. That would have been my job. Like maybe he bought this expensive house, realized he couldn't really pay for it.
00:29:58
Speaker
and needed to get out of it and thought this was the weird way. But that feels also insane to me. Yeah, I agree.
00:30:08
Speaker
I don't know. And to this day, we still really don't know who there's no like, I mean, this is the things that blow my mind. I'm like, there's not a single fingerprint on any of those letters. Like that feels crazy to me. But the police were never able to find any real evidence that could connect it to anyone.
00:30:29
Speaker
But very exciting. The Watcher House has now been, of course, turned into like everything else, a Netflix miniseries. Oh, yes. And it's going to start Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. Yeah, I said the same right. But they sold the story to Netflix.
00:30:52
Speaker
and the house itself finally sold to a new owner in 2019. So I don't know who lives there now. I don't know how they've handled it. Apparently they're like an older couple. I don't know. I don't know what's happened from there. Yeah. But then the other question too is like, did this family make this all up? And now they got paid off a big settlement from Netflix, or not settlement, but got paid a big payday from Netflix to turn their life into a miniseries.
00:31:22
Speaker
I don't know. Details are fuzzy. I cannot believe no fingerprint or like no like how could they have not figured out if it was them or if it was a weird neighbor or a teenage prankster or like who knows that it's very strange. So strange. I mean, that sounds like it'll be a good TV series if it's Naomi Watts. I love her.
00:31:48
Speaker
And maybe more investigating has been done that I just couldn't find on the internet in the last couple of years, but I'm definitely curious to see the Netflix series. Yeah. And how they spin it. I wonder if it'll be like an actual person. I mean, that's really scary. Those letters are really freaky. It's very freaky. And it's clearly someone also like trying to be freaky. Yes.
00:32:11
Speaker
that like the way they talk about the children everything like they're trying to freak them out. So yeah, that's the story of the watcher house in New Jersey. I loved it. That's such a different kind of one than we've done. Like, yeah. Stalker story. Stalker story. I bet that explains stalker. I bet there are more like that. That's such a freaky concept. Yeah.
00:32:37
Speaker
Amazing. Well, thank you all for listening. We hope you have some sweet, sweet nightmares. Bye.