09/05/2026
GAUGE ILLUMINATIONS — EPISODE 2
THE BUNNYMAN OF COLCHESTER BRIDGE: THERE’S A KILLER ON THE HIGHWAY
https://youtu.be/B7sBHSlEYGU?si=934oK6rdG96x7hzC
Don’t slow down. Don’t pull over.
This week, we head to Virginia and the Bunnyman of Colchester Bridge, where Jimmy Mac looks at our peculiar affection for haunted bridges, killers in costume, lovers’ lanes, local dares and the sort of roadside legends that begin with somebody saying, “No, really, this happened.”
And unlike some of our creatures, the Bunnyman has enough actual history behind him to make separating the legend from the facts considerably less comforting.
Celebrated author and cultural historian Jeremy Dauber joins us to talk about why frightening stories work, why Americans keep retelling them, and why—once we’ve got a perfectly good scary story—we immediately begin adding things that almost certainly never happened.
Then Thom Bray, who has spent most of his life around trucks, highways, emergencies and the assorted poor decisions people make while traveling between one place and another, gives us the view from somebody who has actually driven these lonely roads.
Jeremy can explain why the legend works.
Thom can explain why stopping the truck to investigate it is a terrible idea.
Along the way, we trace a line from the Bunnyman into The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Halloween and Friday the 13th, as the American roadside legend wanders directly into the Eighties slasher.
Because the Bunnyman isn’t merely a monster story. He’s part game of telephone, part local history, part internet mutation—and perhaps one of the finest examples of everybody getting in on the grisly fun.
Jimmy also celebrates an important Star Wars 50th anniversary that happened before the movie was even released, and News of the Weird brings us another modern phenomenon the internet has managed to expand, distort and make considerably stranger.
Don’t slow down.
Don’t pull over.
Gauge Illuminations and its trusted mechanic Jean Guidry will show you the way to safety.
ABOUT OUR GUESTS
JEREMY DAUBER
Jeremy Dauber is an author, cultural historian and professor at Columbia University, which means he has managed to turn thinking seriously about horror, comedy, comic books, folklore and the peculiar things Americans do for entertainment into an entirely respectable profession.
His books include American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond, American Comics: A History, Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew, Jewish Comedy: A Serious History and The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem.
He’s a Harvard graduate, a Rhodes Scholar, and somebody who has spent a great deal of time considering why we tell frightening stories—and why, once we have a perfectly good frightening story, we immediately begin improving it with things that almost certainly never happened.
Which makes him exactly the sort of person we wanted along for a trip to Bunnyman Bridge.
Website:
https://www.jeremydauber.com/
X:
https://x.com/JeremyDauber
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jeremydauber.bsky.social
THOM BRAY
Thom Bray has spent most of his life around trucks, highways, emergencies and the assorted poor decisions people make while traveling between one place and another.
Before retiring from J. J. Keller & Associates in 2025, Thom spent more than 20 years there as a transportation safety and regulatory expert. Before that came another couple of decades in trucking as a driver, driver trainer, safety supervisor, instructor, claims manager, training director and safety director.
He has driven throughout the United States and Canada, which means that when the rest of us begin discussing lonely highways, strange things beside the road and places where perhaps you ought not stop after dark, Thom has actually been there.
As if that weren’t enough, he is also a firefighter, advanced EMT and Deputy Chief of the Amherst Fire District in Wisconsin.
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-bray-a1a3921b
Facebook:
Thom Bray
Amherst Fire District:
https://www.amherstfd.org/
ALSO ON THE FREQUENCY:
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Hills Have Eyes
Halloween
Friday the 13th
Star Wars
Haunted bridges
Roadside killers
Urban legends
News of the Weird
And several excellent reasons not to get out of the car.
Gauge Illuminations
Late-night podcasts for late-night riders at home and on the road. Horror, road legends and folklore. Midnight DJs, Highway Horror-scopes and paranormal truckers.
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gauge_illuminations/
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/
X:
https://x.com/gaugelight
The Bunnyman of Colchester Bridge—There’s a Killer on the Highway: ...
