A warning

An old Irish Story adapted from Murphy of the Lonely Dove.

Long ago in a small Irish town, there lived a girl. She had vibrant fiery hair and shimmering emerald eyes. She had the chance for an amazing life. One where she would never had to worry for anything. That is the life she could have had, had she of simply listened to others. One day, when the sun had reached its peak in the sky, this girl heard a call from the woods. “Come to us, child. Come,” the woodland spirits called. Yet the girl chose to not listen. Instead of running off to the woods full of fae folk, she ran along the river banks. Past the murky and choppy waters while the spirits begged for her to come to them. All too quickly, the waters stopped and fell, and the each dropped off to nothing. The girl had reached the end of the world. “Don’t go,” cried the spirits. “It is dangerous to take the stairs.” Curiosity and stubbornness had gotten the better of the girl, and she chose to go down regardless. At every level, the girl found pain and anguish. Mentally, physically, and spiritually, she was punished. She found all of the horrors of the world. Torture, rape, murder, even the loss of those she loved. With each horror, she started to rot. Her hair darkened to that of inky coal and her eyes clouded over. Her rosy skin paled and decayed. Slowly she rotted and decayed until there was nothing left but the little pink bow she wore in her once flaming hair. When she finally reached the bottom, the girl who had everything was dead. From her decaying corpse, a devil grew. The dark spirit flew back up to the end of world, back to the mortal realm. There she would seek revenge on others like her. There she would torture and rot any other foolish girl who chose to not heed the calls of the woodland spirits.
-A. Leon Volkov

The Madman of Bunnyman Lore

1904, buses were transporting inmates from a recently closed asylum prison in Clifton to a new facility. However, this trip would be anything but smooth as they passed through Fairfax when one bus overturned, killing most of it’s passengers instantly.

However, 10 escaped.

All but two of those escapees were rounded up. The two that were never recovered were Douglas J. Grifon and Marcus Wallster.

And thus began over a century of stories that have both marred and intrigued people in and around the Clifton and Fairfax areas.

Several versions of this teeming folklore have surfaced. Some say that there’s been a man that dresses up in a human sized bunny suit and harasses people who park on the side of the road near the Bunnyman Bridge, calling them trespassers and threatening them with hatchets, chainsaws and axes. Some say that one off the escapees lives in the forest there, mutilating and living off bunny kills, hanging their remains in the trees and looking to avenge his murdered wife and children. A man who, when provoked by thrill seekers or taunting teenagers, will kill and hang the bodies off the bridge.

These stories have garnered the area a reputation. One that has been featured in various newspapers, on a variety of television shows and in many, many web sites featuring tall tales.

Mixed reports find an alarming amount of horrific murders in the area. Many are linked to a variety of Bunnyman stories.

This reporter can not help but wonder if this isn’t a situation where one lore is made up of a frenzy of terror in one area.

The Vampire of Hollywood Cemetery

Richmond, Virginia – Hollywood cemetery

Somewhere in the infamous cemetery is a mausoleum.

Etched into the stone at the entrance is the name W. W. Pool dated 1913.

Inside this tomb is what people in the area believe to be the remains of a vampire.

The story? Pool was run out of england in the 1800’s for… well? Being a vampire.

This fantastically creepy story has been floating around since the collapse of Richmond’s Church Hill Tunnel in 1925.

When the tunnel collapsed, several workers were tragically buried alive in the rubble.

As legend would have it, people described a bloody figure with pointed teeth and skin hanging from its bones emerging from the wreckage. The being was seen running towards the James River. Some onlookers went after the figure and pursued until it disappeared into the mausoleum of W.W. Pool in the Hollywood Cemetery.

Research into the Vampire legend revealed that one survivor did manage to escape the deadly cave-in., His name was Benjamin Mosby, a 28-year old firefighter who had been shoveling coal in the tunnel when it collapsed. He was badly burned with broken teeth when he escaped the ruins and later died from his injuries in a local hospital.

“Facts” haven’t stopped the legend though. People still flock to the location and Hollywood Cemetery is still a favorite haunt for ghost hunters.

The Lich

Welcome to a new column for all you myth, folklore and conspiracy fanatics! Around the Campfire will bring you some juicy tales that are usually only shared on AM frequency stations or… well… around the campfire. ❤

Looking through legends and lore to kick us off, I stumbled upon something I had nearly forgotten about. To me, sometimes the best lore are ones that sneak up on you having almost been forgotten them. And this week’s?

→ The Lich ←

The lich is a mythological creature meaning ‘corpse’. Yes, yes… I know. You’re going to say: But Fae, those are “zombies”. But no. In this case, it’s different.

So. what makes a lich different from any other member of the undead? Well first, technically speaking a lich is not a ghost, but rather a physical entity. Though it’s relatively a newcomer in the ghost encyclopedia, it’s never-the-less very popular. It rose to prominence when the role-playing game ’Dungeons & Dragons’ used the lich as an undead character.

Second, a lich is supposed to be the body of a dead sorcerer who, through a ritual called ‘Ritual of Endless Night’ lives on, after his mortal body has perished. More specifically, the wizard can save his soul inside a physical object, which is known as a ‘phylactery’. As long the phylactery remains intact, the lich cannot be killed, as seen in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, starring Nicholas Cage.

On this token, it appears Voldemort was a Lich.

Lichs are often mistaken as Zombies, but unlike Zombies they don’t feed on humans and has fully functioning minds. Lichs are said to be either cadaverous with a desiccated body or completely skeletal. They are often depicted as holding power over other obtrusive undead folklore creatures, using them as soldiers and servants, as seen in Army of Darkness, starring Bruce Campbell.

The lich became a staple of gaming throughout the 70′s and 80′s, with Vecna, the lich-lord of Greyhawk (from ’Dungeons & Dragons’) ranking among the most popular. Around 2000’s the Lich was again brought out of obscurity by two more games ‘World of Warcraft’ and ‘Arthas, the Lich-King’.

However, with all this talk about it coming from an RP gaming thing, there have also been reports of people having actual experiences with this thing… and seeing or various phylactery items. So, beware! After all, isn’t there some truth to each and every story?