Blink man

The Blink Man (also known as Peeping Tom and Ilchester the Molester) refers to a legendary entity purported to haunt Ilchester Tunnel in Ellicot City, Maryland. This urban legend involves an apparently malevolent spirit which is said to be a flimmern geist (or, in the popular vernacular, flickergeist), who haunts and eventually claims the lives of those who take part in his occult summoning ritual.
The History of Ilchester Tunnel
Ilchester Tunnel is located just outside of the quaint and beautiful Ellicott City just southwest of Baltimore, Maryland. It's near what once was St. Mary's College now referred to as, 'Hell House'. The tunnel and train bridge span the Patapsco River.
The B&O rail line that was constructed in 1838 initially ran around the large cliff wall and spanned the river by way of a viaduct. However, a massive storm caused the river to flood in 1868, destroying the train station and killing passengers. To prevent a similar recurrence, the idea of a new viaduct was abandoned, and engineers bore a tunnel through the cliff to join the undamaged tracks on the far side. A bridge was then built over the river. According to local lore, Peeping Tom influenced the weather to force the inhabitants of this realm to open his doorway to Earth. Some have noted the depression that immediately hit the area following the completion of the tunnel, and that St. Mary's college was destroyed by fire almost one hundred years to the day of the massive flood.
The Legend Of Peeping Tom
While not the only legend of the area, Peeping Tom is one of the lesser-known and has surprisingly appeared in few books on the subject of the unexplained.
According to tradition, Peeping Tom is a flickergeist (a paranormal occurrence when you think you see something out of the corner of your eye, and when you blink, it disappears). It has been speculated that he is a visitor from another realm and that Ilchester Tunnel is his entry point, and also a point of convergence that allows the living to draw his from the shadows and into clear view.
The legend states that if a person stands at the far end of the Ilchester train bridge at exactly midnight and is able to accomplish the incredible feat of staring for a solid hour until the stroke of 1AM, Peeping Tom will appear to the viewer at the end of the tunnel. Once this occurs, though, he cannot be unseen, and will proceed to come one step closer every time his victim blinks, until he is nose-to-nose with his prey. Those who attempt to delay the final blink will experience Blink Man's long eyelshes with which he'll tickle his victim's cheeks to force them to blink.
What happens once Peeping Tom has forced the viewer to blink a final time is the more vague, yet frightening part of the tale. Legend states that those who were unfortunate enough to have drawn the flickergeist out and blink a final time are no longer among the living. The stories contain a dreadful end with mysterious unexplained deaths as its result. There are also stories of victims trying to beat The Blink Man at his own game and blinding themselves. Though they still blink that final time and meet their end. It is also said the that rubbing of the eyelashes the faces had driven some to madness.
There are of course several variations of the tale, but all with the same basic tenets.
Popular Culture
The Blink Man was featured in an episode of Paranormal Kativity entitled "The Flickergeist" in January 2017 as well as an edition of . Author Matt Lake included a story about Peeping Tom, entitled "The Shadowghast" in his book "Here Be Monsters."
Other Names
*Peeping Tom
*The Peeper
*The Tunnel Man
*Ilchester the Molester
*Old Blinky

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