Children's Web magazine...
Entertaining , Educational, Fun,Informative and MORE

As with all the articles in this series they are designed for READERS AGED 15+ given some content may be disturbing for younger readers. If you’re still reading, let’s dive right into part two of urban legends based on true stories!

Cropsey – Staten Island:

In the legend the creepy Cropsey is said to have hidden out beneath the long abandoned Willowbrook State School for Children. Depending on the tale and what age group it was being told to, in some versions Cropsey was a creepy boogeyman whislt in more severe versions of the story he was a crazed axe murderer; in either tale hunting for poor innocent children. The grim reality is that this tale is based on a true person named Andre Rand, an ex-cleaner at Willowbrook State School, who continued to live there on school grounds after it shut down in 1987. Though there was no proof as such he is linked to the disappearance of several children in the area following the closure of the school and was actually found guilty of kidnapping in both 1988 and again in 2004. The story became so well known that a documentary was even made aptly named ‘Cropsey’.

The Bunny Man:

Far more menacing than the name may first suggest, you wouldn’t go hunting for this Easter bunny! The legend states that in 1904 a bus transferring patients from an asylum in Fairfax County, Virginia, crashed, allowing the patients to escape and run free. They were all soon found again and returned to an asylum barring one. Soon after many dead bunny rabbits began to appear, hanging from the Fairfax Station Bridge. None of that is known to actually be true, and historical records show that there were no asylums in Fairfax County back in 1904 so the story is either inaccurate or simply fabricated. However, possibly inspired by the old legend, a man dressed in a bunny suit did terrorise the area for a short while in 1970 and was never captured. He is known to have thrown an axe at a passing car, cracking the window but fortunately harming no one, and was later spotted attacking the porch of an abandoned house with another axe. No more attacks were reported but the town will always keep one eye open for an axe wielding bunny man. 

Le Loyon:

More creepy than actually threatening, this tale takes us to Switzerland, specifically the Maules Forest. When walking through the forest several people reported seeing an individual wandering in full camouflage and wearing a gas mask, and whilst he didn’t show any signs of being dangerous, he certainly was creepy. Some theorised it was the ghost of an old war victim, but given that there weren’t any battles actually fought in the area, and that the Swiss remained neutral throughout both World Wars 1 and 2, he remained a mystery still, and people who has sighted him insisted he was more physical than spectral. Just 5 years ago in 2013 a walker managed to snap a photograph of Le Loyon wandering through the forest, and he certainly does appear to just be a man in camouflage and a gas mask going for a walk. No harm done, albeit a few creeps to be had! Just a short while later the gas mask and camos were found in the woods with a note stating that Le Loyon was a harmless individual and couldn’t take being looked at as some kind of monster or ghost. As we never knew the identity of the man under the mask people speculate as to whether Le Loyon simply abandoned his odd practise or whether he was, far worse, perhaps driven to suicide or to running away from all the unwanted attention. Either way, he is no more.   

IMAGE SOURCE: http://cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Le_Loyon