"Peeping Tom": The Flickergeist of Ilchester Tunnel

It’s the ultimate staring contest -- and no one can survive it.

The legend of Peeping Tom, known generationally as “Blink Man,” “The Tunnel Man,” and even “Ilchester the Molester,” has its roots in the Great Depression, and has inspired the nightmares of thousands of Ellicott City children since. It’s a story that has been curiously overlooked by writers on the subject of Maryland folklore, but one that seems to be making a comeback in the aftermath of the flooding of Main Street in July of 2016.

According to playground historians, if a person stands at the far side of the trestle spanning the Patapsco River at exactly midnight, and if he or she possesses the strength of will to stare into Ilchester Tunnel without blinking their eyes for one uninterrupted hour, they will see Peeping Tom appear at the tunnel’s far end.

According to Jakob Bohme, a 16thcentury alchemist, Peeping Tom and his otherworldly brethren are Flimmern-Geists (or, in the common vernacular, “Flickergeists”) – shadowy beings living on the periphery of vision. It has been theorized that Ilchester Tunnel serves as a sort of interdimensional focal point, and that by completing the “staring contest,” this Flickergeist is drawn out of the shadows and trapped within the beholder’s field of vision.

However, as with all supernatural challenges, this one comes with a hefty price, for once Peeping Tom has been seen, he cannot be unseen. He appears at a distance approximate to the tunnel’s far end, and every time the viewer blinks, Peeping Tom is still there…but one step closer. This continues until he’s literally nose to nose with his prey, and uses his long eyelashes to tickle his victim, forcing him or her to blink – and that’s when Peeping Tom strikes. If one listens to local lore, many a foolhardy adventurer has performed the superhuman task of keeping their eyes open long enough to conjure Peeping Tom, but none are able to then keep their eyes open long enough to survive an attack. Victims are typically found dead from heart failure -- literally scared to death.

Peeping Tom has re-entered conversation following the destruction of Main Street, mostly due to the eerie parallels that initiated the construction of Ilchester Tunnel in 1903.

The Old Main Line Subdivision is one of the oldest in the United States, and was once the chief throughway for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The initial route followed the Patapsco River valley west out of Baltimore, with the first section opening for service in 1830. Engineers built the linearound the large hill fronting the river and nearby Ilchester Station, allowing freights to travel via the Patterson Viaduct past prestigious St. Mary’s College.

But in 1868, Mother Nature -- or perhaps something more sinister -- had other ideas ...

There was a freak storm. The valley flooded. Passengers drowned, and the railroad was severely damaged. And while engineers constructed workable alternatives for the ruined viaduct during the intervening years, it wasn’t until 1903 that the final solution was complete.

The hill was blasted. A light peered from the darkness. Ilchester Tunnel had opened its eye.

A century later, the station is gone. St. Mary’s College fell into disuse, and was destroyed by fire in 1968 -- exactly one hundred years after the flood that ruined the train line. Now only the ruins of what locals call “Hell House” remain, staring across the river at the eye in the tunnel. While the Main Line still runs, and the lonely whistle of passing freights can still be heard throughout the valley, it’s an echo: the sound of an era passed, a land fallen silent. A place that whispers of secrets. A place gone wrong.

A place now haunted. Haunted by Peeping Tom, the Blink-Man.