“There Were 2 Kids in the House”: The Minecraft Kidnapping Explained

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Minecraft expert Jose Rivera explains whether this viral horror story is real

Co-authored by Jose Rivera and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: November 14, 2025 Fact Checked

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• “There Were Two Kids in the House” Meaning
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• Is the “There Were 2 Kids in the House” story true?
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• Spotting Fake Stories
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• Other Minecraft Horror Stories
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• Video

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There are plenty of creepy Minecraft stories that will shock you out of your socks, and “There Were 2 Kids in the House” is one of them. This horror story details the kidnapping of a child who was forced to livestream Minecraft, and it has swept across the internet. But did it really happen? We asked Minecraft expert Jose Rivera and PhD student in text & discourse Israel Vieira Pereira, PhD, to help us explain the story, discuss whether or not it’s real, explore other Minecraft horror stories, and more!

“There Were 2 Kids in the House” Explained

Minecraft expert Jose Rivera explains that “There were 2 kids in the house” is a fictional Minecraft horror story. In the story, which is told through streams, a kidnapped child slowly reveals personal details, gradually revealing that there were really 2 kids all along.

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Section 1 of 4:

“There Were 2 Kids in the House” Minecraft Horror Explained

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   “There were 2 kids in the house” is a line from a Minecraft horror story by @zachobuilds. Rivera explains that the video originates on Gamer TikTok and YouTube. He explains, “At first, it looks like another Minecraft stream: quiet music, peaceful builds, a kid narrating in a soft voice. But then the tone shifts. Messages appear in-game that the streamer swears he didn’t write. A sign reads, ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ The screen cuts to black. That’s when viewers realize they’re watching something far stranger than a typical gameplay session.”

   • Rivera explains that the story began circulating in mid-2025. “In his streams, [the narrator] builds cozy, childlike homes with flower gardens and pastel decor, but hints drop that something’s wrong. He says he’s ‘only allowed to play 30 minutes a day;’ that he’s ‘not supposed to record.’”
   • “As episodes continue,” says Rivera, “cryptic signs start to appear that he never placed. Fans noticed inconsistencies, different birthdays, accents, and homes, suggesting two children might be playing under surveillance.”
   • Rivera concludes, “The phrase ‘There were 2 kids in the house’ flashes during the final stream before everything stops, leaving millions of viewers wondering if they just witnessed a digital distress call. Its power lies in how believable it feels.”

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Jose Rivera, also known as Ricky Flicks, is a Minecraft expert, social media strategist, and content creator. He has over 200 million views across his YouTube channel and has partnered with brands like Netflix and Disney+.

   Israel Vieira Pereira, PhD is a discourse analyst and PhD candidate in Text and Discourse at Unisul University.
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   This story was first told by @zachobuilds but quickly went viral. @zachobuilds posted to TikTok after allegedly coming across a Minecraft livestream where the player was running the Alpha version of the game and leaving mysterious messages. His line, "There were two kids in the house," immediately went viral on TikTok.

   • Some TikTokers reposted edits of the clip, while others talked about how it was an insane plot twist, with the virality being based around how jarring the twist was.
   • “Each new TikTok ‘investigation’ adds details, GPS clues in block placements, whispers hidden in the audio, even supposed IP addresses, to keep the mystery alive,” says Rivera. “The brilliance of the narrative lies in that uncertainty; viewers can’t decide whether to fear for the kid or applaud the world-building.”
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   “There Were 2 Kids in the House” acts as social commentary, in a way. “Thematically, the story explores obsession, surveillance, and isolation in digital childhood,” Rivera explains. “The confined player and watchful overseer echo broader anxieties about how online spaces blur safety and exposure. It’s unsettling not just because of what might happen in-game, but because it mirrors how vulnerable young creators can feel in real online ecosystems.”

   • “Media scholars call these viral tales ‘networked hauntings,’” adds Rivera. “They’re folklore for the algorithm age, stories that evolve through reposts, remixes, and collective decoding rather than a single author.”
   • Rivera says that Minecraft’s modability, calm-seeming gameplay, and nostalgic visuals and music are a “perfect storytelling sandbox for this digital folklore.” He says that each new story “transforms Minecraft’s creative freedom into a psychological labyrinth, proving once again that the real monsters aren’t the ones in the caves, they’re the ones born from our collective imagination.”
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Section 2 of 4:

Is the “There Were 2 Kids in the House” story true?

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   No, the “There were 2 kids in the house” story is not true. “Most evidence points toward a coordinated ARG (alternate reality game), a horror narrative staged across social media to mimic found footage through an evolving storyline with hidden messaging,” says Rivera. “Still, it’s effective because it toys with emotional realism.”

   • When you search “Levi Golding Missing Michigan,” the news headline popularized in “There were 2 kids in the house” TikToks, nothing comes up. No headlines or news organizations report the kidnapping of a 9-year-old boy named Levi Golding.
   • When you visit the c0nsci0usne33 YouTube channel, the bio reads “THIS IS A FICTIONAL MINECRAFT ARG.”
   • Additionally, @zachobuilds added to the YouTube caption of the video, "The events told in this video are FICTIONAL and created for the purpose of storytelling, however, the channel itself is very real and the story will be continued after this video is released."

Section 3 of 4:

How to Spot Fake Stories

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   Read past the headlines and check out the actual article. When it comes to spotting fake stories online, Dr. Pereira says to “go beyond the headlines. Fake news headlines are mostly bombastic or accusative, but the content per se might be based purely on speculation.”
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   Look for the primary sources and authors of the story. Dr. Pereira says, “The easiest way [to spot fake news] is to search for the author of the news. Usually, when it comes to fake news, it is very hard to identify the primary source of the info or its authors. If that’s the case, avoid sharing the information.”
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Section 4 of 4:

Other Minecraft Horror Stories

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   The Legend of Herobrine If you played Minecraft back in the day, you might remember the name “Herobrine.” According to legend, Herobrine was an entity that appeared in your world to wreak havoc. When he would appear, he would reportedly only be seen for a few seconds, staring at the player's character with his all-white eyes before running into the fog or disappearing entirely.

   • In his wake, Herobrine would apparently leave two-by-two tunnels and small perfect pyramids in the ocean.
   • Although the creepy pseudo-character was supposedly removed from the game with various patch updates, Herobrine’s legend still lives on.
   • Rivera agrees that the stories are similar. He explains that Herobrine was a “spectral miner haunting player’s worlds.” He adds, “Just as Herobrine once embodied ‘the ghost in the machine,’ ‘Two Kids in the House’ reflects contemporary fears of surveillance, control, and performative innocence online.”
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   The Mysterious Fire Block Reddit user u/doomgrin recounted the time he dealt with a mysterious fire block on a server. According to their story, a few server owners had made a post on the Minecraft forums talking about how ice was naturally spawning in an underground cave. U/doomgrin got curious and decided to check it out for themselves. They hopped onto the server and headed to a double chest with a block of fire in it.

   • The thing is, fire isn’t a block you can normally get in Minecraft without cheats, the block they hovered over had no name, and whenever they tried to grab it, their game would crash.
   • They never found out what the mystery behind the block was, and neither of the server owners has been heard from since.
   • Rivera also recommends Minecraft horror stories Entity 303, which he describes as “a rogue developer seeking revenge through code,” and Simon_12, “an urban-legend mod that ‘learns’ from your gameplay.”
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