All language subtitles for John.Carpenters.Suburban.Screams.S01E04.720p.PCOK.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV_Track03

[train whistle blowing]

[insects chirping]

[twigs snapping]

[soft music]

* *

- Jimmy!

Jimmy!

You out here?

Boys!

[owl hooting]

[tense music]

* *

[train whistle blowing]

* *

[rustling]

- [gasps]

[dramatic music]

* *

[dripping]

- [breathing shakily]

Jimmy?

- [gasps]

[dramatic music]

[both screaming]

* *

- Jimmy?

* *

- [breathing heavily]

[screaming]

- In our suburbs,

evil lurks
behind closed doors--

true stories so terrifying
because the horror is real.

You will never look at your
neighbors the same way again.

I'm John Carpenter,

and this is
"Suburban Screams."

[person screaming]

[tense music]

* *

- People'd say, "Do you know
about the Bunny Man?"

And I'd say, yeah,
I know about the Bunny Man,

but not because I read
about the Bunny Man.

It was like
he was right behind us,

breathing down our necks.

[dramatic music]

* *

[tense music]

My name is Ed Kidwell.

Moved to Fairfax, Virginia,
in 1970,

about age nine years old.

* *

My dad was military,

and he was stationed
at the Pentagon.

So that's where my dad bought
a house, was in Fairfax.

* *

We lived in the Burke section.

* *

Our neighborhood was
just being built,

so there was still a lot
of dirt roads,

a lot of construction
going on.

[hammer pounding]

On the maps that they gave you
of the neighborhood,

it was gonna be a good 20,
25 streets...

* *

But when we moved there,

there was only
maybe three streets,

four streets completed.

* *

[engine rumbling]

- I was born
in Fairfax Hospital,

so I'm a legit native.

[laughs]

Not a lot of people
are from Fairfax.

They moved there for a job,

or their parents moved there
for a job.

[light upbeat music]

- Here is Fairfax, Virginia,
a city in progress.

* *

Just a hop, skip, and a jump

from our nation's capital,

we're building the houses
for tomorrow today...

* *

And turning this sleepy
rural landscape

into a vibrant community

ready for your growing family
to move in and call home.

[soft music]

- Fairfax is a suburb
of Washington, D.C.

So the more that
the government grew,

the more that the rural areas
around there were expanding.

* *

But it was absolutely
a good place to grow up,

a safe place to grow up.

* *

- You know, you didn't think
there was crime.

You--we'd stay out
till the sun went down.

* *

You know,
you'd play tag at night,

hide and seek.

There was a lot to do.

There was--you know,

it just wasn't
that feeling of,

you're in danger all the time,

that you've gotta watch
for strangers.

* *

At the time, I didn't--

I didn't think about some guy

running around
dressed like a bunny.

[eerie music]

* *

- One of our neighbors

invited us
to a Boy Scout campout.

They have a big bonfire,

and everyone sits around
and tells stories.

And one kid starts with,

"Have you heard the legend
of the Bunny Man?"

And one of the other leaders
interrupted him and said,

"Hey, hey, these--
they're too young.

"We don't want--
we don't need this.

This story is not--just stop."

You know?

And, of course, that made
all us little kids go,

"What? What's that?

What's the Bunny Man story?"

[ominous music]

- I don't remember
the first time

I heard the story
of the Bunny Man.

I just remember it
always being around.

I think it was probably
a little bit more

about the urban legend
at that point,

the idea of a guy
in a bunny suit with an axe

terrorizing, you know,
this area

that's being developed,
you know,

figuring they're trying
to scare us and--

or people trying to scare me.

* *

- Most urban legends have
a kernel of truth in them.

And the kernel of truth
in this one, I think,

really terrified people
at some visceral level.

* *

[thunder rumbling]

* *

I have always been
a history buff,

and I am
a trained genealogist.

So in about 2011, I joined
the Burke Historical Society,

which is a small group
of people

who are interested in
preserving and sharing

the fascinating history
of Burke, Virginia.

I decided to write a book
called "Wicked Fairfax County"

and knew there had to be
a chapter on the Bunny Man.

So I started researching
and found that

there were many different
legends about the Bunny Man.

But the commonality
in all of them is

there was a farmer that lived
in Fairfax County, Virginia,

100 years ago.

* *

[insects chirping]

The farmer kind of
kept to himself.

He wasn't married,
had no family.

And one night,
the local pastor thought

he would go pay him a visit.

[animals howling]

[cow mooing]

[muffled speech]

As the pastor
approached the house,

he heard strange babbling
in a language

that he did not understand.

- [non-English speech]

[non-English speech]

[ominous music]

* *

- Mother of God.

[squelching]

* *

- Oh!

[dramatic music]

* *

- [non-English speech]

[train whistle blowing]

* *

[animals howling]

- So the pastor hightailed it
out of there,

went and got the police,
and found out that

the cow had been reported
as stolen.

So they arrested the farmer.

He said he had stolen the cow

because a demon had
told him to do it.

- [non-English speech]

- So the farmer was
sentenced to time

and vowed that he was gonna
get revenge on the town.

- [sobbing]

- But then supposedly,
it was a bus

that wrecked
with prisoners on it,

and he--he escaped,
and they never caught him.

And so then he was
running around through Burke.

He kept himself alive
on eating rabbits.

* *

And then he would take
the carcasses

and hang it on the bridge
like a warning

to tell people to stay away.

- And then children reported
seeing him

near the bridge,
dressed in either

rabbit skins
or a bunny costume,

and they started calling
this escapee the Bunny Man.

Eventually, they chased him
onto the train tracks,

where he was hit
by a train and killed.

And the next morning,
three children were missing.

So the police went
out to the bridge,

and they found
the three children hanging

off the bridge by their necks.

And they had been gutted
like rabbits.

[eerie music]

So now it is said that

if you go to that bridge
at midnight on Halloween,

the Bunny Man's ghost will
come and murder you.

And the next morning,
people will find you

hung off the bridge just like
those three children were

100 years ago.

* *

- But yeah,
that was a big deal,

the Bunny Man story.

And other people said,
"No, that's not the truth."

But it--it was real.

The whole neighborhood talked
about the Bunny Man.

They'd--it wasn't like,
"Ah, you're a fool.

You're listening
to the Bunny Man story."

It'd be weird.

You'd go three
or four blocks over,

those kids had
the same stories.

It was not a legend to us.

It was--it was the truth.

* *

- But yeah,
in elementary school,

we'd hear the stories
of the escaped person

in the woods.

* *

Everybody's got their own
version of that.

And then in the 1970s,
it got very real.

[insects chirping]

[laughter]

[soft music playing]

- * I know
what's in my heart *

* I know that's where
heaven starts *

[foreboding music]

- Yeah.
- [laughs]

That's just
what I was thinking.

- * Waiting my whole life *

- [breathing heavily]

* *

- * I know
what's in my heart *

* I know that's
where heaven starts *

* It's with you, babe *

* It's with you,
babe *

[laughter]

* *

* Waiting my whole
life for this *

* No way I will let it slip *

* But with you, babe,
but with you *

* I've never felt like this *

* And I say sha,
la, la, la, la, la *

* *

[footsteps approaching]

- [non-English speech]

- What?

- Shh.

Listen.

- [non-English speech]

[tense music]

* *

- * Sha, la, la,
la, la, la, la *

* I feel good, I feel good *

* *

* I know I'm gonna *

- [breathing shakily]

- [non-English speech]

[both screaming]

* *

- [screaming]

- * I feel good,
I feel good *

* I feel... *

- [screaming] No!

No! No!

No!

[screaming]

* *

[birds chirping]

[flies buzzing]

- No.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

[tense music]

* *

- Tsst!

[quietly] Let's go!

Let's go!

[eerie whooshing]

- [panting]

[dramatic music]

* *

[engine grinding]

* *

- [sniffs]

[whimpering]

[engine grinding]

[whimpering]

Come on.

[engine grinding]

Come on, come on, Robert.

Start the car!

- [non-English speech]

* *

- [panting]

[engine grinding]

[shrieks]

[engine starting]

- [non-English speech]

- [whimpering]

[engine revving]

[tires squealing]

- Please, please, please.

[whimpering]

Just go.

Just go, just go.

[engine revving]

[dramatic music]

* *

[gravel crunching]

- Well, the young couple
took off.

Fortunately,
they were not injured.

They called the police,

so a police report was made.

[dark music]

- Honestly, it's hard to say
if I believed in the Bunny Man

or not as a kid.

But as I learned more
when I got older, you know,

there--I believe there
really was a Bunny Man.

* *

Because there's
actual evidence now.

So it doesn't get
to that level

without there being truth,
right?

There is truth to it.

And I was in the rural area
that this all happened in.

I was within miles of it,

so definitely
thought about it more.

* *

And then a couple weeks
after that,

a security guard saw something

within a mile of where
the first story took place.

- Okay, it's D-R--

truckster.

Truck--truckster.

No, that's not a word.

Um, trackster?

Trackster?

[radio static buzzes]

- 81, clear.

80-14, clear.

- Trickster.
It's trickster!

Ha! Oh, man.

That's good.

[chopping]

[tense music]

* *

What the hell?

[chopping continues]

* *

Hey!

What the hell are you doing?

Hey!

* *

[birds chirping]

[foreboding music]

* *

[bird screeches]

[dog barking in distance]

- [non-English speech]

[tense music]

* *

[non-English speech]

* *

- [breathing heavily]

[truck engine starts]

[engine revving]

[dramatic music]

* *

Hold it!

Hold it right there!

[tires squealing]

* *

- The Bunny Man, he got away.

And both the original incident

on Guinea Road in October 1970

with the couple in the car

and the incident
at Kings Park West

with the security guard

were reported
in "The Washington Post."

[dark music]

* *

- So my dad, he's sitting
at the dining room table,

reading "The Post,"
like he normally does.

And here's a story in there
about the Bunny Man,

probably 10 houses away
from our house,

where this happened.

* *

- Now it's much more serious

because there's
police reports.

There's eyewitnesses.

And your parents became
fearful of it.

You know,
now being a parent myself,

I can understand that.

* *

I do remember in the '70s,

there was a lot of news about
kids that would go missing,

these kidnapping stories
that were going on.

And then you hear
a local story about a guy

in a bunny suit with an axe.

And I think that just sent
this mentality of,

you could be taken.

[tense music]

* *

- So my dad,
when we were going

to the store that Saturday,

when we drive by,
he slows down.

He goes,
"That's the house right there

that the Bunny Man hacked on."

* *

And so all us kids are
staring out the window.

We see hack marks.

Obviously, someone had taken

tons of target practice
out there.

* *

You know, this is true.

This happened
right by my house.

* *

And so when you went to bed,
you thought about that.

You thought about the Bunny Man
and where's he gonna attack?

And it wasn't just a story

that they were trying
to keep from us.

You had to be careful.

He was where we were.

* *

[tense music]

- You start thinking,
the Bunny Man.

The Bunny Man's
coming after you.

* *

He could have been anywhere
in the county, you know?

We gotta watch out
for this guy.

Keep your eyes open
for this guy.

* *

Then all the sudden,
my mom was worried

about what we were doing.

And you know, the streetlights
come on, you better be home.

It was creepy.

* *

I mean, that's just--
that's just--

it heightened your fear

of what's in the dark,
you know?

What's--what's going on?

[thunder rumbling]

[siren wailing]

The Bunny Man was real.

He was running around.

He was one of those people
the police never catch.

[thunder rumbling]

[siren wailing]

You don't want to be cornered.

You don't want to become
his victim.

[thunder rumbling]

[siren wailing]

Is it possible
the Bunny Man's watching us?

* *

But then you'd hear stories
pop up every once in a while

of a Bunny Man incident.

You know,
the Bunny Man was here.

Supposedly,
they saw the Bunny Man here.

- I know at least three people
who had eyewitness accounts

of seeing him.

I didn't, at first, always--

like, I'm like--I didn't always
believe these stories.

But I heard enough of them
that I do believe it.

You know, I had a paper boy
for "The Washington Post."

He was 16.

And in 1972,

he said that
he was delivering papers,

and he claims
to have seen a guy

in a bunny suit
skipping down the street,

dragging an axe behind him.

He said he had nightmares
about it for years.

It was like a--it was actually

a fairly traumatic event
for him as a kid.

I believed him.

There was no question,
from my perspective,

that he was--
he was telling the truth.

* *

And then in junior high,

I started hearing
about the bridge stories.

- It is an active
railroad bridge,

although seriously
looking at it,

you would not believe that.

If you were gonna have
a haunted bridge,

it would be that bridge.

Ever since the Bunny Man legend
became viral, if you will,

kids have flocked to Bunny Man
bridge on Halloween.

[indistinct chatter]

Teenagers being teenagers,

kids from as far away
as Pennsylvania

come down to the bridge
on Halloween.

Because, of course,
that's when the Bunny Man

is supposed to appear.

[indistinct chatter]
[upbeat music playing]

- I was surprised
how many people were bringing

new stories about that bridge.

And the fact that there are
still stories out there

that haven't been documented,
you know, it tells me

that there's a lot more to it
that we don't know.

* *

- Holy shit.

Look at Nick Larson.

- Wasn't he the Bunny Man
for Halloween last year too?

- Uh-huh.

- Who even invited him?

He's such a freak.

* *

Hey, Nick.

Show us your moves!

* *

[laughing]

- [breathing heavily]

* *

- Hey. Nice costume.

* *

- What the fuck?

Nick Larson?

- Uh, hi, Stephanie.

- [laughing]

* *

- Yeah!
[people cheering]

- * You may run
and you may hide *

* But you can always find me
on the sunny side *

[upbeat music playing]

- [non-English speech]

- * It don't matter
what you can't see *

[tense music]

- [gasps]

- * And I'll tell you
what to do *

[people screaming]

* *

* Go on and run *

[people screaming]

* *

- Run!

[dramatic music]

[all breathing heavily]

* *

[trap clanks shut]

- [screams]

* *

- We need to go!
- Wait!

- Hey, help!

Help!

Help me!

[groaning]

Ow!

Hey, help! Help!

* *

- Hurry!

- Ahh!
- Here!

Help!

Help, help!

- Ow!

- Hurry!

Help!
- Help!

- Please!

- Somebody help us, please!

- Let's go!

[squelching]
- [screaming]

* *

- [screams]
- Ah!

- Come on!

I need your help!

- Help!

[car door closes]

[engine revving]
[tires squealing]

- That was probably
the most ominous

of any of the stories I heard.

This is, like, something

that you could tell
still stuck with them.

Somebody comes out of the woods

and tries to grab a friend
of yours in a bunny suit,

and you grew up with the urban
legend of the Bunny Man,

you're gonna remember.

- Well, after that, it seems
the Bunny Man was everywhere.

In one night,
police fielded 50 calls

about a man in a rabbit suit
with a hatchet.

Was it possible
it was the same Bunny Man

from the 100 years ago
incident?

I don't know
the answer to that.

I honestly don't.

But now you have some
sort of hysteria going on.

[tense music]

* *

- Kids would talk about it

in the lunchroom
and on the playground.

Everything seemed like
there was somewhere

that the Bunny Man
could be hiding.

And it seemed like
every noise you heard

was the Bunny Man
attacking people.

You'd hear a rooster
or even a fox scream.

I don't have you ever heard
a fox scream at night.

It sounds almost like
a person screaming, the fox.

I mean, I would just--

all the kids would be
so scared.

One time,
we were all playing,

you know, doing our--

whatever we do around
the neighborhood.

And one of the kids came
running around,

tearing around the corner.

And, I mean,
he had fear in his eyes.

He just--and he's yelling,
"It's the Bunny Man!

He's coming! He's coming!
He's coming!"

[dramatic music]

You know, our parents,
they asked questions.

"Did you see him?"

And if you didn't see him,

they would just say,
"Well, you're safe.

You're home."

But then you were curious,
you know?

And so we were always out
looking to see

if we could find the Bunny Man.

* *

So I remember when
we went camping

in that area by ourselves.

* *

That was brave of us

to go out there
without adults.

* *

A couple pals that
I hung out a lot with--

it was Mike that lived
down the street from me,

and then a guy across
the street named Richard.

He was the one that would--

would get you to do things.

Richard came up with the crazy
idea to go over to this house

where the Bunny Man
supposedly lived.

* *

- Come on, Mike!

Don't pussy out!

We've come this far.

We're doing it!
- Fine.

* *

- Get that thing ready, Eddie.

- Don't touch it!

I said the only one
who touches it is me.

If my dad knew I took it,
he'd kill me!

- Shh!

What if he's in there?

- Huh?
That's the point, dickhead!

I'm gonna distract him,
and you're gonna snap a photo.

And we're out!

- I'm not so sure
about this, Rich.

I mean, what if he tries to,
I don't know,

like, hack us for going
on his property or whatever?

- Ladies, stop!

It's just a weirdo
in a costume.

If he tries to do anything,

I'll kick him right
in his little bunny balls.

[owl hooting]

One snapshot is all we need.

Now man the fuck up
and come on!

[insects chirping]

[wind howling]

[branch snapping]

- Go up to the window.

- Yeah.

[animals howling]

* *

- There's no one in there.

We're going in!

[clattering]

- Shh!

[ominous music]

* *

[door creaking]

[train whistle blowing]

[door creaking, slams]

[tense music]

* *

[all breathing shakily]

- [gasps]

Snap some photos!

Ed, come on!

[camera shutter clicking]

[all panting]

* *

Turn it off!

[clattering]

- [moaning]

[all panting]

- It was probably just
a deer or something.

[electricity buzzing]

Don't move.

- [screams]

- Shh!

- Relax! It's just--

[dramatic music]

[all screaming]

* *

- [non-English speech]

[all screaming]

[insects chirping]

- I think about
how scared we were.

We just couldn't believe it.

It was--it was the Bunny Man.

We just--and all of us
turned around

and just--it was like
someone lit a fire.

We just started running.

* *

But he was never caught.

And so when I see an axe,
it brings me back

to the Bunny Man, you know?

This is his weapon.

This is what he had.

It just--that really gets me.

That's--you know,
that's where it hits home.

* *

- Most people don't expect
to find out that

the Bunny Man was
actually real,

that there actually was
a young man

in a rabbit suit
with a hatchet

running around
threatening people.

But he was.

There actually was a Bunny Man.

[eerie music]

* *

My theory is that
the Bunny Man

could not deal with the fact

that the rural area
that he was living in

was becoming more suburban.

He was very upset
by all of this.

He could see it coming.

He could see the westward
march of suburbia

into that formerly rural
area of Fairfax County.

He just grew a lot spookier
and a lot more violent,

and he just lashed out.

* *

- You know, in Fairfax,
everywhere there's

something green,
they're putting a house.

It's just progress.

So maybe he's trying
to slow progress.

Maybe that's his attempt,
you know.

* *

- I've always kind of had
a theory that--

that whoever owned those farms

that had sold
to those developers,

it's probably a son
or something

of one of those people.

[flies buzzing]

- But why he chose to wear
a bunny suit, I don't know.

We'll never know
the answer to that.

- There's so many theories.

I have my own.

You know, there were a lot
of rabbits in that--that area.

Maybe it was just
a statement of, hey,

you're tearing up
the home that these--

that this wildlife lives in.

[train screeching]

[ominous music]

* *

- In 2018, a man's body
was found near the bridge.

* *

So it is possible that
the Bunny Man

is still alive today
and watching all of this.

* *

- You know,
we still hear the stories.

* *

So, yeah, it's very plausible
he's still alive.

* *

- So yeah, you gotta be
concerned about

who's creeping up on you,

because the Bunny Man's
running around there.

* *

[footsteps]

* *

He's still running around.

* *

You gotta be scared
of that axe.

[blade scrapes, resonates]

* *

- [non-English speech]

- * I say sha, la,
la, la, la, la, la *

* I feel good, I feel good *

* I feel sha, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la *

* Oh, oh *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh *

* La, ah, ah *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh *