Charlie No-Face (The Green Man)
For decades, Pennsylvania teenagers told stories of a faceless monster who walked the roads at night, glowing green in headlights. The truth was sadder: Raymond Robinson, horribly disfigured in a childhood accident, could only go outside at night. His legend outlived him.
In the hills of western Pennsylvania, teenagers whispered about the Green Man - a faceless creature who wandered the roads at night, his skin glowing an eerie green in car headlights. They drove out to see him, terrified and thrilled, hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster. But Raymond Robinson wasn’t a monster. He was a man who, through terrible tragedy, could only experience the outside world in darkness.
The Accident
On June 18, 1919, eight-year-old Raymond Robinson was climbing a power line pole near Morado, Pennsylvania with some friends. They were trying to reach a bird’s nest. Raymond touched a live wire carrying 22,000 volts.
The electrical shock killed one of his companions. Raymond survived, but the damage was catastrophic. He lost both eyes, his nose, and one arm. His face was left horribly disfigured - a mass of scar tissue where his features should have been.
Raymond survived and adapted. He learned to walk using a cane, feeling his way along familiar routes. He made belts and doormats to sell. He lived with his family in Koppel, Pennsylvania for most of his life.
But he couldn’t go outside during the day. Children screamed and ran. Adults recoiled. His appearance was too disturbing for the daylight world.
So Raymond walked at night.
The Night Walker
Beginning sometime in the 1950s, Raymond began taking regular walks along State Route 351, usually starting around midnight. The dark road gave him exercise and fresh air without subjecting him - or others - to his appearance.
But people saw him.
Teenagers driving the rural roads would catch something in their headlights - a figure walking with a cane, a face that wasn’t a face. The legend of the Green Man was born.
The “green” element may have come from the way certain fabrics or scarred skin could appear in the green tint of early car headlights. Others suggest the name came from his need to remain “green” or environmentally hidden. Whatever the origin, the name stuck.
Legend and Reality
The legend grew with each telling:
- He was a ghost
- He was a monster
- He was a man who had been murdered and walked the roads seeking revenge
- He was radioactive, which explained the glow
- He would attack cars that stopped
None of this was true. Raymond was a gentle, somewhat shy man who enjoyed his walks and was generally friendly to those who approached him respectfully.
Some people brought him beer or cigarettes. He would chat with them, pose for photographs, accept their gifts. Others threw bottles at him, chased him with their cars, or tried to scare him. He bore it all.
The Folklore
The Green Man/Charlie No-Face legend became embedded in western Pennsylvania culture:
- Route 351 became known as “Green Man’s Tunnel” or “Green Man Road”
- Teenagers made pilgrimages to spot him
- Sightings were reported, compared, and exaggerated
- The legend was passed from generation to generation
Most who went looking never saw him. Those who did often didn’t realize they had encountered a real human being. They saw a monster and drove away with a story to tell.
Death and Legacy
Raymond Robinson died on June 11, 1985, at age 74. He spent his final years in a nursing home.
After his death, the legend continued. Some claimed to still see the Green Man walking Route 351. A tunnel on the road became associated with his ghost. The story evolved from urban legend about a living person to ghost story about the dead.
The Real Monster
The tragedy of Raymond Robinson is not that he became a monster in local folklore. It’s that he was always just a man - a man whose terrible disfigurement isolated him from daylight society, who found what freedom he could in midnight walks, and whose neighbors turned him into a campfire tale rather than simply accepting him.
He was never dangerous. He never attacked anyone. He was just Raymond, walking the roads, enjoying the night air, occasionally stopping to chat with anyone brave enough to treat him like a human being.
The real monsters were the ones who threw bottles.