Black Eyed Children
The myth of the Black-Eyed Children has been circulating for a few decades now. The most famous account was published online in 1998 by an American journalist called Brian Bethel. He posted on an online message board (think something like reddit) to recollect his experience and to see if anyone else had experienced the same.
A Warm night in 1996
Bethel described his experience happening on a warm night in 1996. He needed to pay his internet bill and was writing a cheque in his car. Yes, this is what we used to do before Bpay and Tap and go. From his own account “There was a knock on my driver’s side window. Two young boys, somewhere between nine to 12 years old and dressed in hooded pullovers, stood outside. I cracked the window a bit, anticipating a speil for money, but I was immediately gripped by an incomprehensible, soul-wracking fear. I had no idea why. Both boys stared at me with coal-black eyes. The sort of eyes one sees these days on aliens or bargain basement vampires on late night television. Soulless orbs like two great swathes of starless night”. He said that they asked him for a ride because they were going to the movies, but had left their money at home. Overcome with a sense of fear, he rolled his window up. He said one of the boys started banging on his window and shouting “We can’t come in unless you tell us it’s OK. Let us in!”. He drove away. Since this time, there have been maybe hundreds of accounts worldwide where people have spoken of similar experiences where children with Black Eyes either knock on a window of a car or a door of a house asking for a ride or to be let in. Quite often they are wearing hoodies and are in groups of 2 or 3. They start to become aggressive and demand to be let in as they can’t come in unless invited.
While this is one of the most famous accounts, the first known account was said to be from the Summer of 1982 by a woman who was walking near Cannock Chase in Birches Valley, England. She never gave her name to the media but reported hearing a female child calling for help to the police. She ran in the direction of the cries but was unable to find the child. When she turned around she then saw a young girl covering her eyes. She asked the young girl if she was in trouble. She didn't answer. She then lowered her hands to reveal her black eyes. The woman ran away in fear. When she turned around, the little girl was gone. Police reports reportedly state that the police were then looking for the girl who was not found. I have personally not seen a copy of this report so cannot vouch for its authenticity.
Then there is also the story of an elderly couple in Vermont who was awoken late at night by 3 loud knocks on their front door. There stood a boy and a girl who asked if they could come inside to wait for their parents. They were invited inside where they sat on the couch. The husband asked some questions that they wouldn't answer while his wife made hot cocoa. She noticed that their pet Cat was distressed and hid under the couch away from the kids. They then asked to use the bathroom. She showed them the way and it was then that she noticed the colour of their eyes. Pitch black. She returned to her husband whose hand was covering his face and she asked him if he noticed the colour of their eyes. He then removed his hand to reveal he had a bloody nose. The power of the house went out and the wife went back to the bathroom to find the kids. She heard them at the end of the hallway as they yelled their parents had arrived. They walked out the front door leaving the door open. The wife noticed two big tall dark skinny men standing at the end of the driveway. She waved to them but received no response. They then all got in a car and drove off. The power to the house came on not long after. In the weeks that followed, three out of their four cats went missing while the fourth one was found dead in a pool of its own blood. The husband continued to get blood noses and a Dr then diagnosed him with aggressive skin cancer.
These are some of the many accounts you will find on the internet in forums, podcasts, books etc on this very popular subject. In fact, you have probably heard of at least one of these tales before. It has become its own sort of urban legend.
What are Black-Eyed Children?
There is a lot of speculation as to what people believe Black-Eyed Children are. Some believe they are aliens disguised as children. Others believe they are demons (most likely due to Hollywood’s adaptation of demons having black eyes). Some say they are evil spirits. Others believe it is a overexaggerated myth created online much like Slenderman. A type of urban legend. I have even come across an explanation where people have argued that when you are on certain types of drugs, your pupils dilate and due to poor lighting a person’s eyes can appear to be black. Aggressive behaviour is also linked to drug use. Look back at popular Asian horror movies. In a lot of them, demonic entities are represented with black eyes. In Supernatural a demon is represented with Black Eyes. In Village of the damned, the children were represented with dark red eyes. The eyes are very powerful. It is also a pop culture reference. Is there where the myth was born? Did it exist before the internet? There are some people whose accounts date back to pre-internet, however, there is of course no way of proving these accounts are real.
There are a lot of questions and very few answers. One of the most modern-day questions has been, with the in thing now being to have CCTV security camera’s set up on the porches of houses across the world, why hasn’t any of this been captured on film? When it has, the quality is often questionable or the circumstances seem to be staged so again it is one of those things.
It is certainly a case of having to rely on witness testimony. So I want to hear from you. Have you had any experience with Black-Eyed Children or do you believe it is just an urban legend? Submit your story below:
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Comments
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Marina Stefanopoulos 5 years ago
Four days ago two apparitions of what looked like two children followed me home; those days i had been reading "Hydra" by Matt Wesolowski who mentions the black-eyed-kids. Those moments that they were with me I was grabbed by an immense fear. I went in the house and they just stood at the entrance; i unwittingly allowed them in the house somehow. Now they're here and no matter how much I've told them to go away, or prayed fervently they withdraw somehow but they still come back in the house again. I've decided they're demonic because they have the eyes of a demon that had been pestering me years ago. Sometimes these apparitions of the kids enter my body and sometimes i get whispers in my brain to hurt somebody really bad, like kill them or something so I have to fight them really hard emotionally and then i resort to praying and telling them to leave the house and leave me alone. I'm really scared. I'm Greek Orthodox so i believe in the power of the Cross; i believe in Saints and Jesus so i pray to them to get rid of them. So I guess their hold over me now isn't really that serious as it was in the beginning before my praying.
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The Ghost Attic 5 years ago
Hey from The Ghost Attic! I'm just letting you know that I enjoyed your article and I've linked it in my latest post Haunted Places - Myrtles Plantation. Thanks for posting a great article. Keep up with the creepiness!
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Living Life In Full Spectrum 5 years ago
Thanks!!
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