There are countless reports of these strange beings.
Known as Black Eyed Children (BECs) or Black Eyed Kids (BEKs), these individuals usually appear as young children, typically around the age of 10, with black eyes, completely devoid of color.
But they’re not just children: there have also been reports of adults, and even elderly, with solid black eyes and pale or olive skin.
They dress in understated, often worn-out clothing — jeans, hoodies, or old, overused rags — and appear somehow out of place. They’re calm, and insistent. They’ll ask if you need help, or a favor, or to be invited into your home.
Their most curious characteristic, however, is how their presence causes an unexplainable feeling of terror, an instinctive, primal desire to run. To get away. Every reported encounter with Black Eyed Kids ends the same — the person avoids the BEKs, terrified for his or her life.
No one knows what happens if someone accepts their help or their dark favors. That’s up to your imagination, I suppose.
So, what are they?
Some believe they’re husks, devoid of souls. Others suggest they’re hybrid beings who feed on souls. Neither possibility seems very comforting.
Or perhaps they’re reptilian in origin, extraterrestrials of some kind. Given that they often ask to be invited into homes, parallels have also been drawn between Black Eyed Kids and the myths and legends of vampires.
In 2015, one caller into Art Bell’s Midnight In The Desert claimed they were in fact time travelers stealing his soul.
Could they be evil spirits, or demons, taking on the appearance of innocent children to confuse and deceive humans? Either way, they don’t seem to have the illusion quite right, as anyone who encounters a Black Eyed Kid feels that unsettling fight-or-flight response. Something like the uncanny valley, only more terrifying.
Or perhaps they’re simply an urban legend. A modern myth. If you ever see the Black Eyed Kids, accept their help or invite them in. Perhaps then you’ll find out.
