Honestly, kids are terrifying. I’ll be the first to admit that if I had to choose between being stuck in a room with a shark, or a room full of eight year olds, I’d pick the shark. Children are full of rampant emotions, void of any type of filter, and constantly finding a way to get themselves into trouble. It’s no wonder I avoid them at all costs. But pile some creepy, demonic presence on top of everything that already has me shaking and I’ll be on a bus out of town within an hour. The Black-eyed Children are one of the most frightening urban legends I’ve ever encountered, and their story originates in Abilene, Texas.
The Origin Story
In 1998, Brian Bethel was on his way to pay a bill. He was parked, filling out a check, when two boys approached his car. An uneasy feeling kept Bethel from completely rolling down his window as they asked for a ride home. Their conversation persisted through the smallest crack, and Bethel didn’t even realize it, but he was reaching to unlock the doors to let the kids in. His hand crept closer and closer to the lock, until something snapped him out of his daze and he quickly pulled back. It was after this sudden break from his semi-hypnotic state that he realized the children had pitch black eyes. No pupils. No irises. Just a deep abyss meant to entrance their victims.
And so naturally, he floored it out of there.
Other Reports
Since then, there have been several reports of the Black-eyed Children, and each account gets creepier than the last. From dream-like encounters to actual death experiences, the children from these horror stories are bound to give you goosebumps.
Pit Stop Gone Wrong
One of the most interesting accounts I found comes from an article on Mysterious Universe, that quotes a victim who was at a rest stop in Nevada. When three kids that appeared to be 18 approached, the man pulled a knife for defense and began to open his door. The kids did the rest for him. They yanked him out of the car, and in a panic the man fought back. He stabbed one of them twice, but there was no reaction. Or blood. Instead, the Black-eyed Child merely told him “next time” and they walked off.
Invitation for a Home Invasion
And if being jumped by potentially demonic beings isn’t enough to freak you out, maybe the next story will be. Just outside a rural town in Vermont, a woman made the mistake of inviting the Black-eyed Children inside. Late at night, the woman and her husband heard a knock on their door. When they answered, two unnerving children stood at the door. They asked to come inside and said their parents would be there soon, and so the woman let them in. She owned four cats, all of which went into hiding immediately after the children entered. And to make matters more bizarre, her husband suddenly felt dizzy. It was after her husband spoke up about feeling poorly that she noticed the black eyes, and as the children realized they were compromised they asked to go to the bathroom. While the husband and wife were alone, the husband’s nose started to bleed. The final stage was the power going out. Soon after, the children said their parents were there and left.
But the couples’ biggest problems didn’t come until after they left. The husband was abruptly diagnosed with an aggressive form of skin cancer caused by extreme indoor-tanning. The husband had never gotten an artificial tan before, and his wife claims he doesn’t work out in the sun that often. And now the woman is plagued with dizzy spells and nosebleeds, and insists she’s in the “worst condition of [her] life”.
Some Theories
The rise in sightings with these peculiar children since 1998 has led to various theories of where they come from and what their intentions are. UFO and Ancient Mysteries Networking TV has a whole video over them, which covers a few of the more prominent assumptions that have been fabricated from interactions with these demonic children.
Something out of This World
The first follows the idea that these are alien kids. David Weatherly, one of the men interviewed in the video, researched for clusters of UFO sightings around the time these children were spotted, and came up short in research. You might think that would debunk the theory entirely. However, other sources have pointed out the kids’ similarities to Men in Black, the men who supposedly knock on doors late at night to threaten people into silence who have seen aliens (but that’s a story for another time). The connection in mannerisms, such as appearing late at night, and only coming in if invited, and the similarity in dress code, makes it apparent to some that these children are not from this world.
A Spiritual Guide of Sorts
One trait most of the victims of these children have in common is that they have recently departed from their faith. For many, after they come into contact with these Black-eyed Children, they begin practicing their religion again. This pattern noted by a large percentage of the victims makes it seem plausible that these children are perhaps evil spirits sent forth to preview a world without faith to encourage people to stay connected to their beliefs. In this theory, the people who do not re-commit end up dead.
Vampires That Don’t Bite
Finally, the last of several theories we’ll be acknowledging is that these children are some variant of vampires. Ever since the realization of vampires, several constants have followed them through their journey of scary stories and pop culture novels. One of the key pieces in this instance is that they can not enter a private space without being invited. In Bethel’s tale of terror, one of the kids’ began to shout at him to let them in, but fortunately, he’s heard of Stranger Danger. Not everyone has been quite as informed, and when invited in; bad things tend to happen. While it’s not the equivalent to having your blood sucked right out of you; dying animals, sudden cancers, and an overall spooky aura tends to stay with the victims long after the children are gone.
The oddity of the Black-eyed Children is definitely one for the books. It’s disturbing to think of a possessed adult, but children? They’re scary enough without the soulless eyes. And the more research I’ve done on this urban legend makes it seem less like someone making up a story and more like one of those unknown threats to the world we live in. Whether you believe or don’t, though, whether you agree with a theory or not, there’s one thing I think we can all agree on; don’t let them in.