Virginia

1Bunny Man On the record

Humanoid · Guinea Road near Burke and the Colchester Overpass near Clifton, Fairfax County · first reported October 19, 1970 · also called Bunnyman, Bunny Man Bridge

The Bunny Man is a Northern Virginia legend with a real police file behind it. On October 19, 1970, an Air Force Academy cadet and his fiancée, parked by a field on Guinea Road, said a man in a white suit with long rabbit ears threw a hatchet through their car window. On October 31, a construction security guard reported a man in a bunny costume chopping at a porch post with an axe. Fairfax County police investigated both and never found him. From there the story mushroomed into tales of escaped asylum inmates and murders at an old railroad underpass, the Colchester Overpass, now called Bunny Man Bridge. Archivist Brian Conley showed those embellishments are false.

• October 19, 1970On the record Cadet Robert Bennett and his fiancée reported a costumed man who threw a hatchet through their car window on Guinea Road. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• October 31, 1970On the record Security guard Paul Phillips reported a man in a bunny suit hacking at a porch post at an unfinished house in Kings Park West. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1999Proven hoax An internet post invented a backstory about an escaped 1904 convict; Conley found its details false. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: The Colchester Overpass draws crowds around Halloween; it is on an active road, so use caution and respect local rules.

2Woodbooger Told story

Ape-like · Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton, Wise County · first reported Old Appalachian folklore; sanctuary declared after 2011 · also called Beast of Gum Hill

In southwest Virginia, booger is old mountain dialect for a boogeyman, and the Woodbooger is the thing in the hollows that parents warned children about. Over time it merged with Bigfoot lore around High Knob. In 2011, the Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot filmed an episode in the area, and the city of Norton embraced the attention. The city council declared Flag Rock Recreation Area a Woodbooger Sanctuary, and a large statue of the creature now stands on the path to Flag Rock Overlook. A fall festival followed. Local businesses sell Woodbooger goods. It is civic folklore done with a wink, and one of the most photographed stops in the coalfields.

• 2011On the record Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot filmed in the Norton area, sparking the city's Woodbooger branding. Source: nortonva.gov
• October 2014On the record Norton's city council passed a resolution declaring the area a Bigfoot sanctuary. Source: nortonva.gov

Visiting: Woodbooger statue at Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton; Woodbooger Festival each fall.

3Devil Monkey of Saltville On the record

Beast · Saltville, Smyth County · first reported 1959 · also called Devil Monkey

In the small hours of a 1959 night, a couple named Boyd came upon an animal at the roadside outside Saltville. The husband slowed so his wife could look, and it came at the car. He stopped and reached for a handgun, but she talked him out of shooting, judging a pistol was not enough for what they faced. Their daughter later described it to a researcher: light taffy-colored hair, a white blaze down the throat and belly, powerful hind legs, much shorter front limbs, and no tail. Later reports in the region, including nurses near Saltville and sightings near Marion and Tazewell in the 1970s, describe a similar leaping primate. The name Devil Monkey came only in the 1990s.

• 1959On the record Mr. and Mrs. Boyd reported a taffy-colored, long-legged animal that charged their car outside Saltville. Source: netzwerk-kryptozoologie.de
• Mid-1970sTold story Further reports of a similar animal came from around Marion and Tazewell. Source: preston-posits.com

4Chambers Road Bigfoot Investigated report

Ape-like · Chambers Road (State Route 626), Buchanan County · first reported November 8, 2024 · also called Buchanan County Bigfoot

One of the freshest investigated Bigfoot reports in the Virginia coalfields. At about 2:15 a.m. on November 8, 2024, Samantha Meadows, a former Army supply specialist driving to an early shift, saw something crouched in the brush along Chambers Road near the coal mines. She first thought bear, then realized it was neither. She put it at about seven feet tall and four feet across the shoulders, with shaggy matted hair five or six inches long, a heavy brow, wide-set eyes and a square, blocky face. It seemed to be watching two deer. When her headlights hit it, it moved off toward a creek. A BFRO investigator interviewed her and found her highly credible.

• November 8, 2024Investigated report Samantha Meadows reported a crouched, dark, seven-foot figure near the road that retreated to a creek bed. A BFRO investigator followed up and judged her account credible. Source: bfro.net

5Great Dismal Swamp Creature On the record

Ape-like · Great Dismal Swamp, Chesapeake and Suffolk · first reported March 1901 · also called Skunkfoot

The Great Dismal Swamp, straddling Virginia and North Carolina, has produced monster stories for over a century. In 1901, the Richmond Dispatch reported a shaggy, upright creature with yellowish or orange hair and glowing eyes, blamed for killing pets and livestock. A man was said to have killed one the next year, but sightings went on. In 1981, a Washington Post story included a report from a ranger of a hairy creature about seven and a half feet tall with a powerful stench, which earned the nickname Skunkfoot. Skeptics suggest bears, including an oddly colored black bear, plus the swamp's long reputation for strangeness.

• March 1901On the record The Richmond Dispatch reported a hairy, upright, glowing-eyed creature in the swamp. Source: preston-posits.com
• 1981On the record A ranger, named as Pat Higgins, reported a tall, foul-smelling hairy creature; the Washington Post covered it. Source: folkbestiary.com
• June 28, 2014Told story A father and son reported a dark-haired upright figure that seemed to carry a smaller one. Source: preston-posits.com

Visiting: Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

6Smithy Told story

Water monster · Smith Mountain Lake, near the dam · first reported Summer 1979 · also called Smith Mountain Lake Monster

Smith Mountain Lake is a large reservoir in the Virginia foothills, formed when the Roanoke River was dammed in the 1960s. Since the summer of 1979, people have told of Smithy, a lake creature seen mostly near the dam. Descriptions are vague, ranging from a huge catfish to something serpentine or reptilian. Some say it shows up when the hydroelectric turbines start, which stirs the water. No witnesses are named in the sources, and the documentation is thin. Skeptics favor a large catfish or debris churned up by the dam. It is a classic reservoir monster, a modern lake that grew its own legend.

• Summer 1979 onwardTold story Unnamed boaters reported a large animal near the dam, often when turbines were running. Source: preston-posits.com

Visiting: Smith Mountain Lake State Park.

7Oozlefinch Told story

Winged · Fort Monroe, Hampton · first reported 1905

The Oozlefinch is an Army in-joke that became an official mascot. As the story goes, around 1905 an officer at Fort Monroe, Captain Henry Merriam, claimed to have seen a strange bird with bulging, lidless eyes that flew backward and could see in every direction at once. Most tellers assume a few drinks were involved. The bird was adopted by the Coast Artillery Corps and later by the Army's Air Defense Artillery branch, and it appears on unit insignia in an abstract, featherless form. In 2016, a local brewery named after it put up a historical-style marker in Hampton. It is less a cryptid than a beloved military tall tale.

• 1905Told story Captain Henry Merriam was credited with the first 'sighting' of the backward-flying bird. Source: preston-posits.com
• 2016On the record The Oozlefinch Craft Brewery erected a marker commemorating the bird in Hampton. Source: preston-posits.com

Visiting: Fort Monroe in Hampton.

8Red Devil Told story

Humanoid · Crewe (Nottoway County), Lynchburg, and the Eastern Shore · first reported 1968

Virginia's Red Devil is a scattered set of reports about a small red creature. The first, from 1968, describes a pinkish-red being with large shining eyes and no real nose, seen during a home birth. Reports from 1992 describe a furry red creature two to three feet tall with a shrill laugh, and another with red furry hands and a satyr-like look. Later accounts, from 1997 near Chincoteague and in 2007, shift to white or brown fur. Witnesses are known only by initials. Writers have compared it to Puck or Pan from European lore. With no consistent description and no named witnesses, it is best read as a loose bundle of odd encounters.

• 1968Told story A witness known as Bob described a pinkish-red creature with big shining eyes near Crewe. Source: preston-posits.com
• 1992Told story A high schooler and a motorist, known by initials, reported small, red, furry creatures, one with a shrill laugh. Source: preston-posits.com

9Richmond Vampire Told story

Humanoid · Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond · first reported 1925 event; legend in print 1976

Richmond's vampire legend grew out of a real disaster. On October 2, 1925, the Church Hill railroad tunnel in Richmond collapsed on a work train. Over the following decades, a story spread that a blood-covered creature with jagged teeth and hanging skin crawled out of the wreck and fled to Hollywood Cemetery, where it vanished into the mausoleum of W. W. Pool, whose tomb has an Egyptian design and markings some read as fangs. The tale appeared in print in a 1976 student newspaper. Researchers think it is a garbled memory of fireman Benjamin Mosby, who escaped the collapse injured and died that year.

• October 2, 1925On the record The Church Hill Tunnel collapsed; fireman Benjamin F. Mosby escaped with terrible injuries and died later. Source: preston-posits.com
• April 30, 1976Told story The Commonwealth Times published the vampire legend. Source: preston-posits.com

Visiting: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond; visit respectfully.

10Werewolf of Henrico County Told story

Beast · Confederate Hills Recreation Center area, Highland Springs, Henrico County · first reported Early 1900s (legend); October 2011 report

Highland Springs, east of Richmond, has a local legend of an upright wolf-like creature, six or seven feet tall with grayish-white fur and a howl unlike any dog's. Some tell it as the ghost of a Civil War soldier. Reports gathered by local investigators include a woman walking a pit bull, a young couple at a boat launch, and a couple at a picnic table. In October 2011, people reported strange animal calls and large canine-like tracks. A local investigator was skeptical of some of the older claims. Today it is usually filed with the national wave of dogman reports.

• October 2011Told story Witnesses reported eerie calls and large dog-like tracks near the recreation center. Source: preston-posits.com

11Chessie in Virginia Waters Told story

Water monster · Potomac River mouth: Coles Point and Smith Point, Westmoreland and Northumberland counties · first reported Summer 1978 · also called Chessie

Chessie, the Chesapeake Bay's sea serpent, has a Virginia chapter too. In the summer of 1978, reports came from the lower Potomac around Coles Point and Smith Point, where the river meets the bay. A couple named Kyker are among the Virginia witnesses listed in folklore collections. Descriptions match the Maryland reports: a dark, undulating body twenty-five to thirty feet long. Chessie went on to become a regional mascot for the bay's health. Skeptics point to manatees, which do wander into the bay in summer. For the core case, including the 1982 Kent Island video, see the Maryland Chessie entry.

• Summer 1978Told story Witnesses including Donald Kyker and his wife reported a long serpentine creature near the mouth of the Potomac. Source: folkbestiary.com