Netflix is known for its creepy true crime dramas. That’s certainly the case with its latest series The Watcher, starring Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts as the new owners of a New Jersey suburban dream home that quickly becomes a living hell. The series is based on the shocking true life events of Derek and Maria Broaddus and their three children, who bought 657 Boulevard in Westfield, N.J., for $1.3 million eight years ago, per CBS New York.
The Watcher is about Dean (Cannavale) and Nora Brannock (Watts), a fictionalized version of Derek and Maria Broaddus. After putting all their savings into purchasing their dream home in the idyllic suburb of Westfield, New Jersey, they soon realize the neighborhood is less than welcoming. The family’s icy welcome quickly turns into a full-blown living hell when ominous letters from someone calling themself “The Watcher” start arriving, terrorizing the family to their breaking point. The latest creation of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, The Watcher, is all the more creepy because it is inspired by true events.
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In the true version of the story, three days after the family arrived at 657 Boulevard, they received the first letter in their mailbox, reading:
The writer also claimed to have once “ran from room to room imagining the life with the rich occupants there. And now I watch and wait for the day when they [sic] young blood will be mine again.”
Dearest new neighbor at 657 Boulevard,
Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood. 657 Boulevard has been the subject of my family for decades now, and as it approaches its 110th birthday, I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s, and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out.
Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too [sic] me.
Signed, “The Watcher.”
What Happened After The Watcher Letter
Netflix
After Derek and Maria Broaddus received the first letter, the couple received two more letters from “The Watcher,” with the third letter wondering why the family hadn’t moved in yet. “Where have you gone to?” The Watcher wrote. “657 Boulevard is missing you.”
The Watcher House went viral in 2015 when the family sued the previous homeowners, John and Andrea Woods, for not disclosing that the home came with a Watcher. As the lawsuit alleged, the previous homeowners had also received a letter from the Watcher a week before the sale of the home became official. The legal battle lasted a couple of years, during which time the Broaddus family tried to sell the home or raze it and build two new structures.
In 2017, when the home was finally rented to a tenant, another Watcher letter arrived. This time, the letter was a more sinister tone, but the tenant agreed to stay.
Although The Watcher case is no longer an active case, it is still open. The Watch was never identified.
