I listened to the entire show and I found it fascinating. Black-eyed children is an allegory; a metaphor which reflects the fear, anxiety, and concerns we parents have for our children in this electronic age. The description of the children pale (because they don’t get out of the house enough) between 8-12 years old (around the time they receive their first cell phone) wearing non-descript clothing (typical of generation X) The all-black eyes simply replaces the video game or electronic hand-held device they carry around completely zoned out to the rest of the world Hotwater
I think its the feeling of the people that see them that they are ghosts , or some kind of non human being . The black eye part may to make them look more scarry . There is another idea that they may be human generated thought forms . I got my first cell phone when I was 48 . desert rat