The tale of Charlie No-Face is an example of one of those true stories that gets wildly twisted in each retelling. Here are the facts: In the early 1900s, a Pennsylvania boy named Ray Robinson was electrocuted by a trolley wire, resulting in lifelong disfigurement—specifically, most of his facial features melted away. After that, he was ostracized and stories about his disfigurement grew more and more preposterous as the rumor mill began to spin.
Today, the people of western Pennsylvania insist that Charlie No-Face—whose nickname remains a mystery—has become a radioactive, glowing Green Man-type figure who haunts an abandoned freight tunnel. But the truth is that he was just a guy who experienced an unfortunate childhood accident.