This Article Originally Ran On Blumhouse.com
Brian Bethel sat in his car and filled out a check by the light of the movie theater marquee above. Camalott Communications, Bethel’s internet provider needed to be paid, and Bethel wanted to get it to them before they shut off his access to the outside world.
Maybe he was deep in thought about MORTAL KOMBAT, the movie the theater’s marquee was so proudly announcing to the good people of Abilene. Or perhaps Bethel was looking for the bill from Camalott to make sure he paid the right amount. Whatever it was that had his attention, it wasn’t the two young boys wearing hoodies standing at his driver side window. If they had never knocked, Bethel likely wouldn’t have known they had come so close to him. But they did knock. And Bethel did see them.
Brian Bethel, not thinking, or maybe thinking too much, cracked the window. As he did, a blanket of dread came over him. The boys removed their hoods, showing their faces. One of them, who Bethel would come to call the “Spokesman” had dark curly hair and olive skin. He asked Bethel for a ride home. The two kids had planned to see MORTAL KOMBAT, but they left their money at home and they needed to move fast if they wanted to get back before the trailers ended.
The other boy, a redhaired freckled kid whose skin had possibly never been touched by the sun he was so pale, stood quiet and unmoving.
Bethel checked the time. It was late. The last showing of MORTAL KOMBAT had already started. He told this to the Spokesman.
“It won’t take long” the Spokesman replied.
Bethel told the boy that by the time they got to his house and back, the movie would be almost over.
“We’re just two kids” the Spokesman pointed out.
The dread that Bethel felt before was getting stronger.
“We don’t have a gun or anything”
Without him realizing it, Bethel’s hand had moved to lock his door, and though he was filled with terror, he stopped himself from completing the action. Bethel looked down at his hand and just how close to the lock it was. When he looked back up, the world he knew was changed forever.
The two boys stared back at Bethel with eyes as black as coal. No pupils. No iris. No sclera. Just black. The blackness of death. Bethel spoke fast, making up a series of nonsense about why he couldn’t give the boys a ride. He put the car in reverse and rolled the window back up.
The Spokesman banged on the window and screamed, “We can’t come in unless you tell us it’s OK. Let us in!”
Bethel pulled out of his spot and drove off as fast as he could. He looked back as he turned a corner. The two boys were gone.
This was the first time anyone saw the Black-Eyed Children.
By 1998, Bethel’s story had spread across the internet, and with it came more reports, all sharing a similar piece; the Black-Eyed Children always want to get inside. They seem to be able to enter places where people often congregate, but need permission to enter a home or car. These mysterious kids share the same lines as well. If they come to your doorstep, they ask to use your phone. If they come to your car, they need a ride. They assure you that they are just kids and are not dangerous. They hide their eyes for as long as they can, often staying in the shadows.
Multiple stories detail encounters with Black-Eyed Children in bookstores. They stay in the kid’s section, often unmoving. When they do move, they are silent, and will often walk up to someone, standing uncomfortably close and not saying a word. Sometimes they walk in circles, their eyes locked on their prey.
Each tale tells of the overlying sense of fear that comes over those that have encounters with the Black-Eyed Children. Often, people will knowingly choose to do something that further puts their lives in danger, like Bethel’s decision to leave his car door unlocked. It is almost as if these creepy kids are able to adle the mind of whomever they are looking to mess with.
In fairness to the Black-Eyed Children, we don’t actually know that they want to mess with anyone. There are no stories, none that I could find, about people who let the Black-Eyed Children into their cars or homes. Each tale ends with the teller unharmed but shaken, having come to their senses, refusing to help these terrifying tykes. Which begs the question, what if the Black-Eyed Children aren’t evil? What if the sense of dread, the feeling of fear, that comes over people isn’t caused by the kids, but by something else?
Like the Black-Eyed Adults.
Greg Newkirk, in piece for Week In Weird, tells the story of a Girl Scout running into a Black-Eyed Adult in the late 90s. In the story, the Girl Scout was going door to door looking to sell some cookies when an elderly couple ran up to her. The couple had the signature black eyes and filled the Girl Scout with terror as they approached.
The Girl Scout, so full of fear, was unable to move as the Black-Eyed Adults came to her. They kneeled down to be eye level with the her, their smiles unnaturally wide. At that moment, a third woman appeared, grabbing the Black-Eyed adults by the arm and pulling them away and into a house.
A little over a year ago, Dallas Adams had his own run-in with a Black-Eyed Adult at a gas station in Lucas, Texas. According to Dallas, when he went into the gas station to pay, there were other cars at the pumps, but when he came out, they were all gone. The only thing remaining was his car and a Strange Man standing by it.
Dallas walked to his car, passing the man who smelled horrible. As he passed the Strange Man, Dallas became afraid. He picked up his pace and got into his car. As he opened the door, Dallas looked at the Strange Man who was staring back at him.
Dallas was motionless, caught in the gaze of the Strange Man who was slowly walking towards him.
As he came closer, the Strange Man spoke, “I need a ride”. Even from a distance, Dallas could smell his rancid breath.
The Strange Man came closer and repeated himself. It was then that Dallas realized the man’s eyes were totally black. He asked the Strange Man where he was headed.
“Just give me a ride” the Strange Man replied.
The two stared at each other. Dallas felt as if he was being sucked into the Strange Man’s lifeless, black eyes. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t talk. Couldn’t breath. Dallas blinked, breaking the connection. He quickly got into his car and sped off.
There are similarities to the stories of these Black-Eyed People to those of vampires. The hypnotizing glare. The need to be invited in. The growing sense of fear that overcomes their prey. While Brian Bethel is the first to tell his tale, perhaps he wasn’t the first to run into these beings. Maybe the myth of the vampire grew from the Black-Eyed People. Maybe, over the generations, vampires have evolved into what these stories tell.
Or maybe, and if we’re honest much more likely, maybe Brian Bethel, in the early days of the internet, made up a story and it went viral. Maybe the Girl Scout was a little kid who got freaked out by an elderly couple and over the years her mind has shifted the story into something more more paranormal. Maybe Dallas Adams was stoned and ran across a homeless guy.
Maybe there’s a natural, normal, boring reason for all of this. All the same, if some kids come to my door asking to use the phone, I’ll think twice before letting them in. Or maybe I’ll see if I can get Sam and Dean on the phone.
All art by Francesco Francavilla from the comic B.E.K.: BLACK-EYED KIDS