Some of you may remember an article I posted on this blog a couple of month's ago about an encounter my auntie had with a black eyed child on Cannock Chase in the early 1980's. Well, yesterday whilst sifting through my email inbox I came across a very interesting message from another local lady who claims to have seen this terrifying entity in the woods. I had to write an article on this, not least because the sighting is so similar to my aunties encounter over 30 years ago.
Mrs Kelly (pseudonym) relays that:
“.....around 2 months ago my daughter and I were walking through Birches Valley (an area well known for it's spectral sightings) when we heard the screams of a young child. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but they definitely seemed in distress and sounded very close to us, so we instantly started running towards the noise. We couldn't find the child anywhere and so stopped to catch our breath, that's when I turned round and saw a girl stood behind me, no more than 10 years old, with her hands over her eyes, like she was waiting for a birthday cake. I asked if she was okay and if she had been the one screaming, she then put her arms down by her side and opened her eyes, which is when I saw they were completely black, no iris, no white, nothing. I jumped back and grabbed my daughter, when I looked again, the child was gone. It was strange really, I knew something was going to happen, even before it did, I just had a weird feeling.....”
So what is it about these black eyed kids? Where do they come from?
Well, if you look around on the internet and read a few books you'll find many different theories as to their origins. Some people believe them to be extra terrestrials, vampires, ghosts and even inter-dimensional entities, but there is one immense difference between the sightings of black eyed children around the world and the stories coming out of Cannock Chase: only on Cannock Chase do the sightings consistently happen during the daytime.
In the U.S many reports suggest that black eyed children often appear in groups, regularly knocking at the door's of unknowing victims and asking quietly if they may “come inside”. Some other stories tell the tale of these devilish children appearing in the back-seats of cars when a driver is travelling alone at midnight, or walking around on empty early morning streets asking anyone around for help, but I wonder what would happen if you offered them your assistance? What would happen if you let them inside your house? Not many people know, but there are a few reports knocking around, like this one, originally posted in pararational.com:
“......so I let them in, the one who needed the toilet just walked in and straight up the stairs so I shouted up its on the right, I don’t know why I didn't find this strange but most toilets are upstairs and as he was young I didn't think anything of it. I told the other one that the phone was down the hall, “thanks” he said and he started to walk down the hall, I followed him and then I suddenly came over with a really awful feeling like something bad was going to happen, I became very nervous and a bit shaky I still cant explain how that happened, the boy stopped at the phone and paused, “everything OK?” I asked, he turned to me and looked up and that’s when I saw his eyes, and trust me I will never get that picture out of my head, I was so scared that I couldn't even scream as I turned to run down the hall the other kid was standing at the end."
"I became very dizzy and struggled to stand up, he walked closer to me and said that they had been sent to collect me, I still couldn't bear to look into his face, I pushed away from him and ran into my front room and slammed the door shut, I was in so much shock about what was happening I couldn't think straight, this is something that you don’t even expect to happen even in movies. After standing against the door for around and hour or so I finally got the courage to make a run for the back door, so I ran to it and unlocked it, I ran to the back of my garden and jumped over the fence not once looking back.....”
Very frightening indeed.....
Of all the paranormal phenomena experienced on Cannock Chase, black eyed children have to be the most eerie by far. The only advice I could offer anyone who comes across these unhallowed, unrelenting and unsympathetic strays is: start running while you still can!
Until next time my friends.........
Written by Lee Brickley – 2013
If you'd like to know more about paranormal sightings on Cannock Chase, you can pick up a copy of my new book “UFO's Werewolves & The Pig-Man: ExposingEngland’s Strangest Location – Cannock Chase” from Amazon UK& US