Podcast Summary: Haunted Cosmos

Episode: Doppelgängers, The Uncanny Valley, and Black Eyed Kids
Hosts: Ben Garrett & Brian Sauvé
Guest: Josh
Date: October 15, 2025

Main Theme

This episode of Haunted Cosmos' "Graveyard Shift" dives into unsettling firsthand accounts of high strangeness, focusing primarily on doppelgängers, the unsettling phenomenon of the uncanny valley, and Black Eyed Kids. The guest, Josh—a longtime listener and supporter—joins Ben and Brian to share his most haunting, personal experiences with the paranormal, ranging from chilling childhood encounters to adult brushes with the unexplained.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Josh’s Introduction and Context [00:48–04:24]

• Josh introduces himself as a devoted listener and supporter ("Our guy Josh" [02:04, Brian]), and shares how his children also enjoy select episodes.
• He names "Hat Man" and "Sleep Paralysis" as his favorite, most impactful Haunted Cosmos episodes, referencing deep-seated fears such themes evoke.

2. Encounter #1: The Childhood Doppelgänger and the Uncanny Valley

Josh’s detailed story of a terrifying, humanoid entity experienced in childhood.
[09:04–16:20]

• Setting: Age 10, Josh moved into his own basement bedroom, with a view into a dim laundry room for comfort.

• The Incident:

  • One night, Josh became consumed by intense dread, deciding to face the door (preparing to escape to his parents if necessary).
  • He saw a creature crawling into the doorframe on all fours, “kind of sidestepping,” and looking almost but not quite like his younger sister, with “dark, evil, glaring look on its face.” [11:07, Josh]
  • The entity locked eyes, projecting palpable hatred and intent to harm.

    “It's just staring me down. I can just feel this tension and like it hates me, it wants me dead, it wants me gone.” [11:26, Josh]

  • Feeling trapped and immobilized by terror, Josh hid under his blankets, hearing unnatural, “almost robotic” breathing and the thing shuffling closer.
  • The entity entered his room, slamming the door behind it—Josh’s screams finally brought his parents, at which point the experience ended.

• Verification & Shared Trauma:

  • Years later, Josh’s brother recounted a nearly identical experience: being terrorized by an entity resembling their sister, “hunting him and trying to catch him.”

    “That was the same thing that looked oddly like our sister hunting him and trying to catch him.” [13:44, Josh]

• Notable Analysis:

  • The hosts compare this to the “Kakowski intruder” legend—multiple siblings sharing nightmarish, almost identical supernatural experiences, often without initially realizing it.

The Uncanny Valley Theory [15:02–16:02]

• Ben references Freud’s essays on the “uncanny,” highlighting the unique human terror at things that seem almost human but are just “off.”

  “The most horrifying thing that you can ever see is something that looks so much like a human, but you know that it's not.” [15:20, Ben]

• Brian summarizes: “That is a seed of terror for mankind.” [15:33, Ben]

3. Encounter #2: Apparition on the Road – Black Eyed Child

Josh’s direct run-in with a possible Black Eyed Kid.
[21:23–25:22]

• Incident Overview:
  • Driving home at night on a rural Utah highway, Josh slows for a young child riding a bike along a dangerous section—"Really odd place for a bike to be." [22:06, Josh]
  • As he slows, the child veers directly in front of his truck and disappears beneath it. Josh slams the brakes, gets out—but there is no child or bike, only an “unnatural, dead silence.”

    “It's completely silent. Like dark, heavy silence, can't hear anything.” [22:37, Josh]

  • Later, his wife asks if he noticed the child had no eyes; this detail only surfaced in his memory after listening to the Haunted Cosmos episode on Black Eyed Kids.
• Atmospheric Notes:
  • Josh describes the profound abnormality of the silence—“like you go into a sound booth,” unable to hear even the running engine. [25:21, Josh]
• Host Commentary:
  • Ben notes the rarity of such impactful hallucinations in adulthood, reinforcing the abnormal nature of his experience.

4. Interpreting the Uncanny, Fear, and Spiritual Realities

Hosts discuss materialist vs. biblical explanations for the uncanny valley and existential dread.
[25:47–32:27]

• Freud’s (materialist) view: Human evolution programmed us to be especially afraid of things almost, but not quite, human—an instinct to avoid danger.

• Biblical fringe theory: This “sense” may come from an ancient need to avoid nonhuman entities—e.g., fallen angels/nephilim (“Genesis 6:4, the sons of God…” [27:32, Ben]), who could appear “almost human.”

  “The offspring that is produced is uncanny… almost human or it's part human, but it's not actually human…” [28:05, Ben]

  • This could explain a divinely-implanted human aversion: “If you actually care about righteousness or life or whatever… there were demons running around posing as human beings.” [28:22, Ben]

• On Black Eyed Kids/demonic deception:

  Brian: “So Black Eyed Children, little demon creatures… like, trying to—What are they trying to do? Because they're always trying to get in.” [29:25]

  • Ben theorizes that different fallen spirits employ different strategies, from overt terror (the uncanny) to alluring benevolence, all aimed at undermining mankind.

5. Encounter #3: Shared Sleep Paralysis Experience

Josh describes a joint episode with his wife—lending credibility to the reality of the supernatural.
[35:31–37:49]

• Incident:
  • While staying at a friend’s house, Josh feels overwhelming dread and paralysis in a dark basement bedroom.
  • Senses a presence in the doorway; wife, asleep, starts exhibiting distress—rapid breathing, twitching.
  • He finally breaks free enough to call out to Jesus, after which the presence subsides and both “felt it lift”; wife wakes terrified, confirming the experience was shared, not imagined.

    “That one was one where it was like, there are two people here that experienced it in different ways.” [37:48, Josh]

6. Practical Reflections and Encouragement

Hosts and Josh encourage listeners to treat such feelings of dread or uncanny terror seriously, not as mere imagination.
[37:49–42:23]

• “If you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel a sudden onset feeling of existential dread, get out of that situation, call upon the name of Christ, ask Him to help you.” [38:34, Ben]
• “It's never a bad idea to call upon the Lord.” [38:52, Brian]

Host and Listener Stories of Fear as Warning [39:12–42:23]

• Both Ben and Brian share their own experiences—overwhelming, irrational terror while alone in nature—describing it as a possible divine warning or protective measure.

  “Like, you will die painfully if you take another step.” [43:15, Brian]

• Comparison made to “Balaam’s donkey”—sometimes dread is the only warning we pick up on.

7. Paranormal Encounters as Spiritual Warfare

The hosts continually frame these experiences as spiritual in nature, reinforcing the power and importance of calling on Christ.

• “Just another example of…the supremacy of Christ, calling upon the name of Christ.” [43:38, Ben]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The central horror of the uncanny:

  “The most horrifying thing that you can ever see is something that looks so much like a human, but you know that it's not.”
  [15:20, Ben]

• On existential dread:

  “Like, my vehicle motor is still running and I can't hear that. That's just completely gone, insanely creepy.”
  [25:45, Brian]

• On shared supernatural experience:

  “That one was one where it was like, there are two people here that experienced it in different ways.”
  [37:48, Josh]

• Repeated advice:

  “Call upon the Lord. That is always the right response.”
  [39:11, Ben]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Josh’s Childhood Doppelgänger Story: [09:04–16:20]
• Shared Sibling Experience: [13:44, Josh]
• Kakowski Intruder Recap & Analysis: [17:19–19:44]
• Uncanny Valley Discussion: [14:47–16:20]
• Black Eyed Kid Road Encounter: [21:23–25:22]
• Zone of Fear / Existential Dread Discourse: [25:22–32:27]
• Joint Sleep Paralysis With Wife: [35:31–37:49]
• Practical Guidance: [37:49–42:23]
• Wrap Up and Christ’s Supremacy: [43:38–43:58]

Conclusion

Josh’s chilling stories are powerfully contextualized by both personal and philosophical insights from the hosts, exploring overlapping themes of doppelgängers, the uncanny valley, and Black Eyed Kids. The discussion merges personal testimony, supernatural folklore, and theological reflection, ultimately urging listeners to take their own spiritual intuition seriously and to rely on Christ when faced with inexplicable—and often terrifying—encounters.

"If you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel a sudden onset feeling of existential dread, get out of that situation, call upon the name of Christ, ask Him to help you. But don't just ignore it and brush it off as like, oh, I'm just in my own head."
– Ben, [38:34]