The Black-Eyed Children folklore is gaining traction in the horror movie industry. Did you know that Black-Eyed Children are part of a general belief around the world? Mandi Konesni dive into the subject in this week’s column!

Fear The Children

A child at your door or car window with a friend or two. Asking to come inside, to make a phone call, or for a ride. It seems innocuous, but your gut screams at you. 

Shrouded in shadow, something seems ‘off’ about the children. Chills race along your spine, the hair on your neck and arms stands straight up. You crack the door or roll down the window slightly… 

Whether to answer yes or no, it doesn’t matter. The children step into the sliver of light. Fathomless eyes of nothingness staring back at you, empty pools of black. Expressionless faces wait expectantly as a feeling of dread and all-encompassing fear fills you. 

You find yourself torn between wanting to help the innocent children and recoiling in terror at the beings in front of you. Whatever you choose to do… don’t let them in.

 A Global Sighting

Black-Eyed Children have been reported worldwide, and no one can agree precisely on what they are, where they came from, or even when the legend truly started. Are they demonic? Extraterrestrials? Vampires? Ghosts? The jury is still out on nearly every count, but one thing is for sure.

They are unnatural and dangerous. We may not know what the Black-Eyed Children want, but judging from experiences thus far, it cannot be anything good. Nearly all occurrences share identical basic trademarks. You’ll hear a knock on your door or window and find a child or children waiting there. 

They are always unnaturally pale, between the ages of six and sixteen, and have hair or clothing covering their eyes. Sometimes their clothes will appear slightly outdated, or not something kids or teens of the time would wear.

Would You Do Me A Favor?

They’ll ask a favor, to come in, for a ride, or to use the phone. Something small, but you don’t feel comfortable, especially when the Black-Eyes Children begin to get angry if you deny them. Animals cower from them or even run and hide away from the door. 

This is unusual, as generally, the animals are known to be friendly to everyone. The children will insist you give in to their demands, becoming more forceful if you repeatedly turn them down. Some have even reported feeling themselves doing so, even when they don’t want to. 

Only once you look away do you break the spell, and fear and dread swallow you whole. When you look back, you’ll see the Children have revealed their faces, and you can now see that their eyes are pitch black, no white to be seen.

The Cannock Chase Murders

In 1965, Raymond Morris killed three young schoolchildren, which became known as the Cannock Chase Murders. A real-life monster, he sexually assaulted, strangled, and then dumped their bodies. They were blindfolded when they were taken. 

Afterward, locals in Cannock Chase began to see young black-eyed children wandering the trails. Here, people are convinced they are the ghosts of those murdered children, with blackened eyes because they couldn’t see when they died. 

Many believe they are still seeking the justice they never received when they were alive, as there was only enough evidence to charge Morris with one murder. If this is an explanation for all of the sightings, it could be one reason the Black-Eyed Children are usually found asking for help or to make contact with a family member.

A Twisted Folklore For Mature Audience

Why do the legends of Black-Eyed Children unnerve us so? Children are the last bastion of innocence. They are supposed to be all that is good in the world before the world has a chance to warp them. 

This legend unequivocally takes something pure and twists it, turning it into something to be feared. There’s a reason why many successful horror movies utilize a child as an adversary.

It takes a normal monster and makes the situation more fraught with danger. After all, no mother would give up on her child. No sane person would refuse to help a child. In the movies, that’s how they get ya.

The Fear Of Invasion

We are warned of stranger danger all our lives, of the perils of opening the doors to someone we don’t know. Oddly, our childhood rituals included going door to door to sell fundraising items, often at the behest of those warning us against such things. 

Is it any wonder that as adults, our own fears manifest those same childhood uncertainties, the same things that make us leery when we hear the doorbell or a knock on the windowpane? In the end, the warning remains the same; you never know the entity’s intentions on the other side. 

While perverted by those who aimed to keep us safe, those warnings were still a good lesson that has stuck with us over the ages. Don’t open the door, even for children, and definitely don’t let strangers in.

Mandi Konesni