Black Eyed Children
by David Weatherly
Leprechaun Press (2012)

During my research into cryptozoology subjects, I often come across other “paranormal” stories involving entities such as ghosts or aliens.  While I’m interested in these other unexplained phenomenon, I don’t always have time to read too many books along these lines.  But every once in a while I come across something so strange and creepy, that I just have to find out more about it.  And that was the case with the Black Eyed Children.

While speaking at a “bigfoot” conference last year, I was introduced to a fellow author by the name of David Weatherly.  We had the opportunity to talk, sharing our mutual interest in bigfoot, swamp monsters, chupacabra, and the like.  At some point the conversation steered towards other paranormal mysteries, of which David is also well versed.  In fact, he has more than 30 years of experience researching various paranormal cases.  It was at that point he told me about a book he was writing about a very mysterious and absolutely creepy phenomenon known as the “Black Eyed Children” or “Black Eyed Kids”… BEKs for short.  He told me that for years hauntingly similar reports have been coming in from around the world which involve these so-called BEKs.  In these reports, two or more young children, dressed in out-dated or drab clothing, knock on the door of a home and ask to be “let in.”  As an uncomfortable conversation ensues between the homeowner (a.k.a. victim) and the unexpected visitors, it begins to invoke a severe sense of dread or outright fear from the victim.  And perhaps even worse, the victim realizes that the kid’s eyes are black.  I don’t mean like “punched in the face” black, I mean like the pupil and sclera are completely black in color!

In these encounters, the children ask to be let inside the house, uttering phrases such as “let us in, it will only take a minute” as they stare at the victim with their dark, menacing eyes.  In every case, the victim is overcome with fear and finds an excuse to quickly close the door.  When he or she peers out of an adjacent window, the children can still be seen, standing and waiting to see if the door is opened again, sometimes still knocking persistently.  Eventually the children will leave, almost as if they disappeared into the night.  In questioning the neighbors, typically no one can recall seeing the strange children, leaving the victim to wonder what had just taken place… and what would have happened if they had actually been let into the home.

All of this may seem a bit out there, but rest assured Weatherly has approached the subject with care, not leaping to conclusions, but also not discounting the possibility that something strange has truly happened to those who have reported a meeting with Black Eyed Kids.  In his recently published book, The Black Eyed Children, Weatherly explores the history of the phenomenon, offering details of numerous eye-witness reports, many of which he personally researched by interviewing the victims themselves.  Like many, Weatherly was skeptical of the reports at first, but after talking extensively to so many witnesses – including a gentlemen by the name of “Paul” whose story was the turning point in Weatherly’s research – the author became convinced that these people had indeed experienced something very strange and unexplainable.

During the course of the book, Weatherly explores a host of rational explanations – the kind you might suggest yourself – as well as offers up more otherworldly type scenarios which might help to explain these encounters.  The book is well-written and informative, reflecting Weatherly’s vast years of experience in paranormal research, as it brings to light the BEK phenomenon for the very first time.

Whether you end up believing in BEKs or not, the stories presented in the book are, to put it simply, downright creepy.  Sure, no definitive proof has surfaced to confirm the existence of BEKs, but regardless, if you’re interested in real-life mysteries, ghosts, aliens, paranormal, et al, this book will open your eyes to a new phenomenon which rivals the earliest shocking tales of alien abduction which set a wave of fear through those that watch the skies.  But in this case, it’s not the skies we need to watch.  It’s the front porches of our own homes, the breezeways of our apartments, or the backseats of our cars if we are tempted to give one of these black eyed children a ride.  They come in the guise of mere children, but there’s something not quite right about them… something that whispers from the grave or hints at something otherworldly or alien.

“Just let us in.  It won’t take long,” they might ask.  But I wouldn’t advise this, at least until you’ve read Weatherly’s book.  It will give you something new to think about every time you hear an innocent knock at your door.

More details: http://leprechaunpress.com/