Scary stories

Black Eyed Kids

  In the late 1990s, a journalist named Brian Bethel had an unnerving experience in his town of Abilene, Texas , where he works for the 'Abilene Reporter-News', the local newspaper. Whether or not you believe his accounts of his experience, you should know that this is a real person – so at the very least, we know the premise of this scary urban legend is not a hoax – there is at least one person on the record (and a journalist no less) who claims that this happened to him.  

Brian posted about this unsettling encounter in a mailing list in 1998, but he has since stated that the actual event probably occurred in the summer of 1996. He was in the town of Abilene, sitting in his car and attempting using the light of a nearby building – a movie theatre – to try a write out a check to pay his internet provider. He hears someone tapping on the window on the driver's side. He looks up and sees two boys, neither of them older than about 16. They're dressed in hoodies, standing outside his locked car door.

He rolls down the window, not sure of what to expect, when the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand on end. An inexplicable dread-like fear grabs hold of him. One of the boys begins to talk to Brian, and the boy explains that he and his friend need a ride – that they wanted to go to catch a movie, but they left their cash at home and needed a ride home to fetch it.

While the conversation seemed innocuous, the paralyzing fear the Brian felt hadn't dispersed – in fact, the pit of dread in his stomach continued to expand. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way, but he was terribly afraid.

As the conversation continued, Brian glanced up at the theatre building. He saw that the last movie of the night had already begun – by the time he drove the two boys home and got back to the theatre, there wouldn't any movies left for them to see. As Brian thought about this, the older boy, the one was doing all the speaking, started to get more pushy. He was saying that they were just kids, and that it wouldn't take long. He said that it's not like they were armed or anything.

This last part only unsettled Brian even more.

Despite his fear, he felt his hand straying towards the lock on the car door – when he realized this, he yanked his hand away. He looked up at the boys to see if they had registered his unnaturally hand movements – and that's when he claims his blood ran cold.

Both the children had eyes that were fully black as pitch. No iris. No pupil.

That's when Brian's panic reached its apex – he muttered an apology, hastily rolled up the window, and drove away with haste. As his car pulled away, the older boy knocked on the window with some force. Brian claims he then said the following:

"We can't come in unless you tell us it's OK. LET US IN."

As Brian hurriedly drove away, he looked back in his rearview mirror. The two boys were gone.

Being a journalist, Brian recorded what he saw, which is why the accounts of his experience are so well preserved, even across different sources.

After Brian's detailed and thorough recounting of his experience got buzz on the internet, there have many more people coming out of the woodwork who claim to have had similar experiences. Many of them share similarities – it always seems to be groups of two children, though they apparently aren't always two boys. They always seem to asking for help – some people report that the children knock late and night and ask to use their restrooms. There is even one case of a Marine claiming that he had a similar experience in his barracks. The children also seem to consistently request that they be 'Let inside' – whether it's a car, a house, or a military barracks, it seems they cannot enter where they aren't invited.

It's unknown what actually happens if you let the BEK (Black Eyed Kids) in – those who have done so may not be around to give us the details of their encounters. It may be that the entire thing is a hoax. But if that's the case, why would Brian Bethel, by all accounts a normal person and a successful journalist, put his reputation and credibility on the line by making up a story?