Legend-tripping at Bunnyman Bridge: American Urban Legends and Classical Mythological Tropes (Ad Navseam, Episode 136)

This week the guys tackle the subject of American Urban Legends with an eye to what classical cultural and narrative archetypes tell us about why these weirdo tales can be so, well, weird. Jeff eagerly (a little too eagerly, Dave might say) drags us into those liminal spaces as we recount the odd tale of the hatchet-wielding, murderous Bunnyman of Clifton, Virginia who creepily lies in wait at the train trestle known as Bunnyman Bridge. All kinds of questions to tackle here: Why do so many urban legends take place at bridges and crossroads? Why are so many of the creatures involved “composite monsters”? Could we see kids visiting these creepy sites at midnight as a kind of “do-it-yourself” coming of age ritual? Why are most urban legends not “urban”?