Black-Eyed Kids
This one went right under my radar. I feel so unhip right now. How could I have missed the horror of the “Black-Eyed Kids” (BEK)?
It seems one of the more sinister crazes in the world of the paranormal involves teenaged boys who show up unannounced on doorsteps and next to lone drivers and demand to be let in the house or car. Witnesses describe the “boys” as dressed appropriately for their age, and normal looking, except for the eyes, which are completely black. Have some people have seen too many horror movies?
This scare is similar to the “phantom social worker” mania that swept the UK and US in the early 1990s, but this phenomenon seems to have appeared later in the decade, starting with a 1998 account by reporter Brian Bethel:
So, there I was, filling out a check in my car (which was still running) and in a sudden panic over the appearance of two little boys. I was confused, but an overwhelming sense of fear and unearthliness rushed in nonetheless.
The spokesman smiled, and the sight for some inexplicable reason chilled my blood. I could feel fight-or-flight responses kicking in. Something, I knew instinctually, was not right, but I didn’t know what it could possibly be.
I rolled down the window very, very slightly and asked “Yes?”
The spokesman smiled again, broader this time. His teeth were very, very white.
“Hey, mister, what’s up? We have a problem,” he said. His voice was that of a young man, but his diction, quiet calm and … something I still couldn’t put my finger on … made my desire to flee even greater. “You see, my friend and I want to see the films, but we forgot our money,” he continued. “We need to go to our house to get it. Want to help us out?”…
“C’mon, mister. Let us in. We can’t get in your car until you do, you know,” the spokesman said soothingly. “Just let us in, and we’ll be gone before you know it. We’ll go to our mother’s house.”
We locked eyes.
To my horror, I realized my hand had strayed toward the door lock (which was engaged) and was in the process of opening it. I pulled it away, probably a bit too violently. But it did force me to look away from the children.
I turned back. “Er … Um …,” I offered weakly and then my mind snapped into sharp focus.
For the first time, I noticed their eyes.
They were coal black. No pupil. No iris. Just two staring orbs reflecting the red and white light of the marquee.
Bethel put the car in gear and floored it out of the parking lot. The story seems to have started an avalanche of reports. What is unclear is if the original story was true, partially true or if the witness simply let his imagination get away with him. For his part, Bethel swears that it’s true, and seems to have let the matter settle as a one-time strange personal encounter. For the record, Bethel, (employed by the Abeliene TX, Reporter-News) has also written well-balanced stories on chemtrail conspiracy advocates as well as normal assignments like a report on lower gas prices. It’s not likely he would make the story up, even though you never be sure of people’s motivations. Another BEK story was posted in 2004 by a woman who says she’s an apartment manager.
What’s going on here? Is it an example of an urban legend run wild? Are there actually etheric, spooky-looking kids terrorizing innocent grownups? It’s interesting to note that many accounts state that the kids, while being very insistent, also say that they cannot enter without permission from the witness. This of course taps into folklore about vampires and other evil beings that must be invited before they can commence their dirty work. It also calls to mind rituals which summon elementals or other spirits for magical work, often while the magician is protected inside a circle of symbols or substances to protect themselves.
The tales also tap into alien lore with shades of Men-In-Black skulking around the porches of UFO witnesses, as well as the obvious detail of black eyes. I am sure that some will say that these BEK stories are due to human-alien hybrids doing the bidding of their evil ET masters. In any case, the stories are rife with symbolism and ready fodder for horror writers and filmmakers.
Of course, now I’ve let a fortune in residuals pass me by.
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Aug 29 2008 
August 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Interesting urban legend; and as with all legends, there might be a speck of truth in it. But what that speck really means is a pickle.
We have to remember that contact lenses that give you a pitch-black eye have been available for quite some time (Remember the bass player of the band “Limp Bizkit”?). But the accounts tell of an almost irrational fear reaction that the witnesses experienced; maybe they overreacted to some kids playing a prank, but still…
I also remember Strieber writing several times on his website about some incidents he experienced with a “young kid” that stalked him when he had to move back to Texas. The “kid” seemed to him like a very old man trapped in a child’s body, and apparently was in pain because he smoked compulsively.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Very interesting read, I’ve only just read about these. Very odd if they are extraterrestrials. I mean, how could they abduct someone and erase their memories without a single clue, yet not be able to force themselves into a car?
August 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I had never heard of these guys until you posted about them, Greg. I don’t doubt the first experiencer to write about it–he is a journalist who had no reason to make something like that up that could damage his local credibility if it didn’t happen.
What I find interesting about it is the folkloric elements of the tale. The odd statement by the boy that they couldn’t come in unless invited is typical of stories of authentic, non-literary stories of vampires and other demonic creatures, and the black eyes are reminiscent of the descriptions of the eyes of angels, demons and djinn.
I do think that something uncanny happened here, but as to what–I cannot really theorize, because there is a lack of data.
As for the other sightings–many of them sound like people elaborating on the original experience, while others do have a ring of authenticity.
It is interesting, creepy and fascinating, though, so thank you for sharing.
September 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Then there’s BECK eyes — those cheesy 1970s over-sized sunglasses that everyone wears now. Puh-lease — it’s not funny anymore — it’s creepy.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 am
RPJ,
For all of the great respect that I have for Strieber, I don’t quite know what to make of his story. Likewise, there appears to be no dearth of anecdotes about similar encounters from others.
I tend to think that a few (or maybe many) copycat pranks have been played in the time since Bethel’s story was published, but that may not explain all of later stories.
Also, there may be some symbol or scenario that a negative force latches onto to create these encounters for those who experience them.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
Annie,
I am not at all sure that ETs are abducting people in the scenario that many have accepted, although something is definitely going on.
This BEK phenomenon may be related to so-called “alien” encounters, but not in ways we might expect.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 am
Helgarde,
You agnosticize in a similar way to my own thoughts. Ultimately, we all enjoy a good scare!
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
Drew,
I’ve been wearing tiny, foldable reading glasses with dark prescription lenses in them (I had an optician custom-make them) for a few years now in part because of this!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
Greg, I could say that I tend toward skeptical agnosticism, but the truth is much more nuanced than that, because I have had many experiences that, try as I might, I have not been able to explain in any scientific or rational fashion.
So, while some could call me a believer, I am very agnostic on what it is I believe in. There is something weird going on in our consensual reality, and while it seems to be many different unrelated things, I tend to think that they may all reflect a small number of types of entities or energies which wear different masks, depending upon the belief system of the one who is experiencing them.
That is where my skepticism come in–I try to be skeptical enough to not have any single set of expectations of what any paranormal event or creature may be so as to not give it a framework to work with. I also try and come up with reasonable rational and scientific explanations for any seeming paranormal event, though I refuse to stretch evidence or disregard it in order to fit it into a scientific framework. That is intellectually dishonest, and I refuse to engage in something so unscientific and irrational while supposedly pursuing science.
In other words, I try to be unbiased, and bring my 25 year study of folklore, fairy lore, UFO lore, demonology and the occult (as well as other esoteric subjects, along with biology, psychology and botany/0 to bear on modern experiences.
However, I realize that no one is unbiased. My years as a journalist taught me that no matter how hard I try to be unbiased and to present every side of a situation or argument, every human being is biased.
I think that is why I enjoy reading your site so much. You and Nick really seem to have a similar way of seeing this weird world of ours as I do, and so it is nice to hear from folks who think similarly to me.
As for the BEK’s–I read the original tale to my best friend and my 18 year old daughter the other night and apparently, caused them loss of sleep! So, they thank you from the bottom of their hearts for introducing me to this phenomenon, because otherwise they would have had to exist in cheerful, sleep-filled ignorance for the rest of their lives.
Hee hee.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Helgarde,
You wrote: “…while some could call me a believer, I am very agnostic on what it is I believe in. There is something weird going on in our consensual reality, and while it seems to be many different unrelated things, I tend to think that they may all reflect a small number of types of entities or energies which wear different masks, depending upon the belief system of the one who is experiencing them.”
Of course, this is what Nick and I push on this site over and over. We respect science for its demands of provable, repeatable evidence, but scorn those who use it as a crutch for belief systems and not as a tool for inquiry. We also respect those UFO researchers who withhold judgment but still continue to think that there is a definite mystery which needs to be investigated and probed with thoughts, theories and of course scientific discipline. Science is evolving to a place where it may be able to tackle the so-called paranormal in exciting new ways. When I read more on this or get smarter, I’ll be posting on this subject.
Thanks for the compliments!
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
[...] UFO Mystic - Black-Eyed Kids: What’s going on here? Is it an example of an urban legend run wild? Are there actually etheric, spooky-looking kids terrorizing innocent grownups? It’s interesting to note that many accounts state that the kids, while being very insistent, also say that they cannot enter without permission from the witness. This of course taps into folklore about vampires and other evil beings that must be invited before they can commence their dirty work. It also calls to mind rituals which summon elementals or other spirits for magical work, often while the magician is protected inside a circle of symbols or substances to protect themselves. [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
It should be noted that, while many strain to find a ufological connection here, due primarily to the “black eyes” of these people, that there is a much older and possibly more accurate parallel from folklore and anecdote.
These “kids” mesmerize or hypnotize, or attempt to do so; they have to be “allowed” or “invited” in; and they seem to be older than they appear.
This is the classic vampire.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Ecstasy causes the pupils to expand, also leaves others feeling uncomfortable in your presence (unless they themselves are under the influence).
No doubt this is just another fable created to raise the hair on our necks and arms.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Along the lines of Nick’s progeria research the Science channel states on their “primitive dwarfs” show that they have huge eyes so that only the black pupil shows….
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Mike,
Of course. I mentioned the older parallels (vampires, elementals) in the original post, which the agents (pranksters or weird beings) may be building upon or using.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
boaby,
Who created the fable? Bethel? I am inclined to think that he didn’t make it up. Whatever the case, he provided rich material for those who followed.
You might notice that I automatically pull for the opposite viewpoint when confronted with either skeptics or believers. It’s just my nature, and I apologize if it annoys or confuses, at least in a nasty way!
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Drew,
Yes, but it would be pretty easy to spot a progeria victim, and not mistake them for teenaged boys.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I may be the only one to notice this but doesn’t the way in which these kids speak sound a little…. forced or anachronistic, like a bad writer fumbling for authentic dialogue? It doesn’t sound natural or contemporary. Maybe, he’s simply paraphrasing the dialogue and not quoting them precisely but still, I wonder.
September 4th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
eireman,
The speech patterns are a classic Men In Black mannerism as well.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:09 am
The observation that most struck me about this account was when he referred to the ’spokeman’’s teeth being “very, very white”.
Whenever I’m undergoing my own equivalent of these sorts of experiences, what I’m always struck by is not only how everything around me seems to become super intensely more vivid, more ‘real’, but how the light and the shade of everything ‘in’ the ’scene’ takes on this sort of electric luminosity, so that not just brightly coloured or well illuminated objects but even ones normally veiled in shadow suddenly flare up and become filled with this incredible internal radiant transparentness, making everything look as if it’s made of this weirdly glowing glass-like energy.
My version of the ‘black eyes’, though, is the eyes being filled with this sort of swirling kaleidoscopic sea of tiny black and white checks, (though I’ve also seen things like little rows of tiny flames).
The guy might’ve been right to be frightened, though, because when I was five my friend Christopher’s eyes suddenly took on this swirling chessboard effect, his face became filled with this hellish malevolent glee and then, pausing to give me this expression meaning he intended deliberate murder, he proceeded to shove my two year old brother Adrian straight down this deep flight of Victorian stone steps.
Then, when I was about eight, in Lodge Lane Swimming Baths, the eyes of these two much older lads suddenly filled up with these same swirling black and white checks and the pair of them immediately started holding me under the water, strangling me.
They’d've definitely drowned me if my best mate David Mills hadn’t come back from the toilet and started smacking away as hard as he could against the face of the lad with his hands ’round my throat, bellowing as loud as he could into the lad’s ear, “Billy! Billy!”, until ‘Billy’ suddenly seemed to come out of this trance with a sort of look of shock and bewilderment all over his face.
You can imagine, then, when my daughter’s eyes started doing the same thing as a little girl it spooked the living crap out of me.
AS she got older, though, she seemed to become normal, but she recently started telling me all about how she was sure she “used to be this dead old Jewish guy with a dead long beard”, and then started regaling me with all these dreams she’s been having aboard this giant space ship secretly parked above the Earth, which slightly freaked me out, because I had to admit I’d been having similar dreams, and some of them’d even featured her!
November 9th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
just watched a UFO docs and it put ME thinking. back in 1994 1995 i was 15 16.i woke up one night because my window was vibrating,now my bed is next to the window and outside the window is a flat roof.but i saw right up at the window a boy with black hair and black eyes and skin was red i screamed for my dad and rain out of my room i taught it was a ghost as i did not belive in ufos or that stuff and around that time i somrtimes woke up but could not open my eyes or move my body mad i googled that and found this.mad lol….
November 11th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Howie,
Sounds pretty scary and also a possible example of an episode that happened between sleep and full consciousness. In other words, perhaps it was a nightmare that spilled over into what you thought was waking awareness.
Then again, perhaps there WAS a strange demonlike entity outside your window. Where those come from, I’m not sure, but weirdness like this always makes me wonder how much of the “external world” is created by our thoughts, wishes, fears, etc. or capitalized on by whatever is there to make us see what it wants us to see.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:32 am
You want to hear a weird dream I have often, I thinks its a dream. I suddenly awake with a little female dressed entity with a blond wig on giving oral sex to me. I resist and look down at this creature, thinking, stop. It slowly stops and turns its head and looks up at me with the face of a small female person with completely black eyes. It gives me a strange intense look as things fade out and I do actually wake up, fully excited from the experience.
Please, no uncalled for remarks. I am telling you what they are doing to me. I have previously been abducted by 3 grays that I totally recall.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:07 am
Gigas,
Sounds like you aren’t bothered that much by your experiences. If not, I think that’s rare.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:14 am
I have since, as a child known, I do not belong here. That time I have had here is filled with experience of the occult. You could say, nothing about this reality can make me believe it is as real as my mind has learned to think it is.
I will say this, when 3 alien entities pulled me into there dark controlled realm, I was more curious than afraid. Untill one of the three placed a disk device on my left jaw and neck area. The device began to draw my life force from my left side as the alien looked deep into my eyes. My left foot began to feel warm as the feeling began to climb up my leg. The same occured in my left hand and arm. The warm feeling felt like the foot/leg/hand/arm were immersed in warm liquid that turned hot and began prickling like electical voltage was being applied. This than went into my left chest where my calm now turned to utter uncontrolled terror. I was going into shock as my body stiffened and my back arched with my mind fighting the unbelievable experience.
Than, it all suddenly began to fade away just like the later sexual encounters. Pain and pleasure by the gray entities. The totally recalled abduction had a small communication projected into my mind as the three gray aliens were looking at me. One alien stood over and intently peered into my eyes as I heard a voice in my head. ” your a by product of a botched abortion “.
Does no use to be scared or act as if it damaged my conscious. I know what it is, and its everywhere. It did damage my physical left side. I have a form of neuropathy in the entire left foot/leg/hand/arm side that has bothered me ever since 1996.