The Story of the Green Man

Over the weekend I was told a ghost story about the Green Man of Pittsburgh. The story goes that the Green Man was an employee of the power company. He was working on some lines that had been damaged by a storm. One of the lines broke free and struck the man killing him. After his death, people have spotted him roaming the road at night. His skin gives off a greenish hue and his face is extremely disfigured with holes where eyes and a nose should be. I thought this story was pretty creepy sitting around the campfire that night, but when I did an internet search, what I found was even creepier.

Apparently the Green Man is for real. His real name is Raymond Robinson. When he was eight years old, he touched a power line on a trolley bridge that left him severely disfigured. He lost his eyes, nose, ear and an arm. He spent his days living with relatives. He would not go out in public during the day for fear of causing a panic, so he took long walks up St. Rt. 351 at night. As his legend grew, locals would actually go out on the road at night looking for him. He died in 1985.




I feel bad for the guy, but I have to admit, I would probably scream like a little girl if I saw him walking towards me in the middle of the night.

This made for a weird story that turned into a very spooky urban myth over time. What made it interesting to me is that you can actually trace the origins of the urban legend back to an actual person and events. Has anybody heard of this story? Can anyone else give any other examples of urban legends that were based on an actual person or event?

Reminds me of Joseph Merrick, sad story poor fella OP.
When I was a kid my pals told me of a giant hunchback that snatched kids, I didn't believe any of them until he walked past my local park...we all screamed and he looked really unhappy and shocked....kids can be horrid i always think now what happened to him

reply to post by jtrenthacker

Wow. Wild story.
It looks like he was very lucky to have survived such injuries back in those days. Plastic surgery has come a long way since then too.

My favourite Green Man:-

www.oldenglishinns.co.uk...

reply to post by alldaylong


I could go for a pint of the dark stuff right now.

My fave green woman.




OP was his skin really green?

reply to post by boymonkey74


In the ghost story, he supposedly had skin that glowed green. I guess from being electrocuted? Sounds a bit like Scooby Doo to me.

I heard a story once about green children of Woolpit that appeared in a village. They only ate green vegetables that pigmented their skin.

en.wikipedia.org...

There were two green children...a boy and girl who were discovered dirty and speaking a language no one could understand. I guess years later when they learned to communicate, they stated they were left here. It is searchable on google.

*quick add of link: (cut and paste into your browser)
Green children of Woolpit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org...‎Cached

"The legend of the green children of Woolpit concerns two children of unusual skin colour who reportedly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, England, some time in the 12th century, perhaps during the reign of King Stephen. The children, brother and sister, were of generally normal appearance except for the green colour of their skin. They spoke in an unknown language, and the only food they would eat was beans. Eventually they learned to eat other food and lost their green pallor, but the boy was sickly and died soon after the children were baptised. The girl adjusted to her new life, but she was considered to be "rather loose and wanton in her conduct".[2] After she learned to speak English the girl explained that she and her brother had come from St Martin's Land, an underground world whose inhabitants are green.

The only near-contemporary accounts are contained in Ralph of Coggeshall's Chronicum Anglicanum and William of Newburgh's Historia rerum Anglicarum, written in about 1189 and 1220 respectively. Between then and their rediscovery...." (cut and paste link for more)

reply to post by jtrenthacker


Yes, I would scream to, and I feel bad knowing I would which makes me feel even worse for him. I so admire the people who can interact with people who have suffered tragedies like this without even blinking an eye, it restores my faith in humanity. Until I realize that my reaction would be the common one