Black eyed kids are a contemporary American urban legend of paranormal creatures that resemble children between ages 6 and 16. These so-called children have pale skin and black eyes, and otherwise appear completely normal. Though a few stories claim they wear outdated clothes or have talons for their feet. While there is nothing at first that may seem alarming, reports often state that the children give off a feeling ranging from unease to anxiety to outright terror. Their voices, however, are said to be enticing and compelling- urging you to trust them. They are reportedly found hitchhiking, panhandling on the street, standing quietly alongside a dark country road, peering in through your windows at night, or standing on your doorstep. Their goal? To climb into your car or enter your home, perhaps to make a phone call to their parents…and they are very insistent about being allowed in.
There are even tales of the children seen hiding in the shadows of a room. This is usually reported during episodes of sleep paralysis. Also, it’s reported by those who wake in the middle of the night sensing someone there watching them. Regardless of where or how you encounter them, the children will always ask you for something that involves being in closed quarters with them. Offering the children to use your cell phone without allowing them in apparently is received by an angry insistence. They feel they must be allowed to come in and use a “real phone”.
The First Known Mention of Black Eyed Kids
While tabloids claim that black-eyed children have existed since the 1980s, most sources indicate that the legend originated from 1996. Postings written by Texas reporter Brian Bethel on a “ghost-related mailing list,” relate two alleged encounters. Bethel described encountering two such children in Abilene, Texas in 1996. He also claimed that a second person had a similar, unrelated encounter in Portland, Oregon.
In Bethel’s report, he describes a late evening out in his vehicle. He had stopped in a parking lot near a movie theater to write a check. Being so absorbed in this, he didn’t notice two young boys approach his car. He didn’t notice until the older boy tapped the driver’s side window. Bethel rolled down his window and noted immediately a “soul-wracking fear,” though he couldn’t understand why.
The older boy said that he and his brother wanted to catch a movie but had forgotten their money at home. He asked could Bethel give them a ride? They assured him that it wouldn’t take long, they were just two kids, and that they didn’t have a gun. Bethel found the assurances unnerving. He noted that the last showing of the film they wanted to see had already started. It would be nearly over by the time he could drive them anywhere and get back.
In his recount of the incident, he stated that when he broke eye contact with them, his fear became all-encompassing. It wasn’t until he broke eye contact that their eyes became completely blacked out. The older boy became frustrated when Bethel made excuses for not giving them a ride. He said that they couldn’t get into the car unless Bethel said it was okay. After that, Bethel tore out of the parking lot. To this day, he still stands by his story.
Story Goes Viral
Bethel’s stories gained such popularity that he published a FAQ “just to keep up with demand for more info about the new urban legend.” In 2012, Brian Bethel told his story on reality TV series Monsters and Mysteries in America. He then wrote a follow-up article for the Abilene Reporter-News, describing his experience and maintaining his belief that it was legitimate. In 2013 MSN featured Black-Eyed Children on an episode of Weekly Strange, which spread the legend into the mainstream.
An Account in Vermont
After Brian’s story went global, others began popping up. One was from out in the middle of nowhere in Vermont. An elderly couple heard the sound of three loud knocks on their door. They opened the door and saw two children, a boy, and a girl. “Parents will be here soon, may we come in?” The children did not make eye contact and just stood there in the doorway. The elderly couple was hesitant but after a while, they let the boy and girl inside.
The kids settled on the couch while the wife made some hot cocoa and the husband asked them questions that went unanswered. The wife returned and noticed that her cats were scared and hissing at the children. They both then asked in unison, “May we please use the restroom?”
The wife looked at the kids and she finally saw their faces clearly. The children’s eyes were as black as a starless universe. She directed them to the bathroom and returned to her husband who was covering his face with his hand. “Did you see their eyes?” she asked. The husband then showed her his hand was full of blood from a nosebleed.
Power Outage
The power suddenly went out and the house turned as dark as the kids’ eyes. The wife headed to the restroom. There, she was confronted by the voice of the kids at the end of the hall. They uttered, “Our parents are here.” The kids then exited the house leaving the door wide open. The wife then noticed that there were two men at the end of the driveway. The men were very tall and slender; the wife waved but did not receive the same friendly gesture. The two men and children then drove away together in one car.
The power then came back on a little later after the kids left. Throughout the next week, weird things happened in the house. Three out of their four cats went missing. The fourth had been found dead in the pool of its blood. The husband continued to have nosebleeds and finally went to the doctor. There, he was diagnosed with very aggressive skin cancer. The old woman also began to suffer from regular nosebleeds. She described herself as being in the “worst condition of her life.” She was convinced that both she and the husband’s ill health was connected to that winter’s night when they allowed the children into their home.
Black eyed kids in France
Some tales of the children do pre-date Brian’s story. An investigator named David Weatherly found a claim of an encounter involving black-eyed children that occurred in the small village of Aisne, France, in 1974. He has written about this case and others in his book titled “Black-Eyed Children”. The case in point was originally investigated by Joel Mesnard and Jean Marie Bigorne and involved two men named only Alain G. and Patrick V.
While leisurely driving around the small village, the two men stopped their car in front of a house while attempting to do a turn in the road. As they glanced into the property’s courtyard, they saw five mysterious figures, who appeared to be looking at them. The figures were around 1.3 meters (4 ft) tall and were all dressed in the same long garments. Their hair was long, seemingly right down to their waists. The strangest thing by far, however, was their solid black eyes.
The figure closest to the men’s car gestured to them to come into the courtyard. Unnerved and frightened, the men sped away from the scene. It is claimed that they returned later with more people with them, but there was no sign of the strange figures they’d seen earlier that day.
When investigators spoke to people in the area, one neighbor stated that he had also seen the strange figures. He believed they were children and had seen them playing on the road.
Harold
Another investigation by David Weatherly happened in Virginia in 1950. This is known as one of the earliest reports of a black-eyed child, and concerns a 16-year-old boy, known only as “Harold.”
According to the story, the teenager was walking home one afternoon when he came across another boy leaning against a fence as if waiting for someone. Harold attempted to speak to him but received no response. He was about to walk off and go on with his journey, when the strange boy suddenly stated to Harold, “I want to go to your house. You’re going to walk me up to your house.”
It was then that Harold noticed the blackness of the boy’s eyes. There was no white, just solid black. Then something even stranger and more chilling happened: Harold had begun to contemplate turning and running home as fast as he could when the boy blurted out, “Now, don’t you run away from me. You’re going to walk me up to your house.”
Harold turned and ran anyway, faster than his legs had ever carried him before. He later recalled to his parents that as he did so, he heard a scream behind him—a scream that sounded very similar to that of a bobcat.
Interestingly, his parents believed their son’s account, so much so that his father was said to have grabbed his gun and immediately gone out looking for the menacing boy who had demanded his son take him to their family home. His mother apparently thought her son had an encounter with the Devil himself and stated that she would take him to see the local priest.
Conclusion
The internet is full of so many stories that we could go on and on for hours, and no two stories are ever fully the same. With so much variety out there, we do agree that you will definitely be chilled and entertained the deeper you go into this fascinating subject.
In closing, no one knows where or how these will pop up, but whatever you believe about them, you should definitely take caution. These children may claim to want into your home to call their parents, however, everyone agrees that if you make eye contact with them that horrible things will happen.
These children can show up on any night- regardless of the weather, season, or phase of the moon. Many of the stories do agree on one thing though- the children are much more likely to appear to someone who is already familiar with the legend- so be prepared and good luck.
More Information on Black Eyed Kids
16 Terrifying Encounters With ‘The Black Eyed Kids’
Legend of the Black-eyed children
Don’t Let Them In! The Urban Legends of Black-Eyed Children