Frank Mercer's Lighter

Origins
This is perhaps one of the most unique artifacts collected by the Warehouse, despite being rather standard otherwise. It was not born in the real world, but rather was a creation of an anonymous comic book author who used it as a plot device in his story.

It was created by U.S. Marine Frank Mercer, who held on to it while being kept in a P.O.W. camp in an unspecified and likely fictional war. While there, he felt as if the life was being drained from him and the lighter absorbed the emotion. Months of solitary confinement caused him to suffer PTSD, and when a mortar destroyed the prison walls and allowed his escape, he had lost the ability to distinguish between hostile humans and monsters.

Some time later he found himself in a city overrun with ghouls. In shock, he killed them indesriminately with the artifact until it was taken from him. The concusion is seen in the Warehouse 13 webisodes, "Of Monsters and Men".

Being a fictional object brought into the real world, it is a unique brand of Tulpa artifact, and though it behaves as any other it is placed in a specialized safe in case of unexpected behaviour. Nothing about the author of the original comic is known, nor whether he knew what he had created. Locating the author is currently somewhere low down on the Agent's To-Do list.

Effects
When the lighter is lit, it draws in the life-force of all living things, causing them to slowly collapse and die. The effect is reversed if the cap is closed mid-way through the process. No certain downsides have been identified, but delusions and megalomania are likely given the owner and creator.