The Watcher: the real story that inspired the Netflix series

"657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in. It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet?" Imagine receiving a letter like that in your new home, written by an anonymous 'Watcher.'

Images: Netflix

Over the past few years, Netflix has specialized in true crime shows. Their programs based on real events and criminal investigations are an absolute hit on the streaming platform.

Image: 'Dahmer - Monster' / Netflix

Curiously, one of the true crime shows on Netflix that has been shaking up the audience doesn't have a psychopath, murderer, or bloody crime scene in its plot.

In 'The Watcher', the show created by Ryan Murphy, the protagonists are psychology, secrets, and the fear of the characters as well as the audience. You don't need to have a bloody murder to spook everyone who's watching.

The story of 'The Watcher' is based on real-life events, which gives it an even darker spin. The story of the Broaddus family is played masterfully by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale.

The journalist Reeves Wideman published an article titled 'The Haunting of a Dream House' in New York Magazine in 2018. It soon went viral.

Image: Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale in 'The Watcher'

Everything starts in New York, when Derek and Maria, a happily married couple with three children, buy their dream home in Westfield, New Jersey. It's the summer of 2014.

The exact address of the house is 657 Boulevard in Westfield, a classy neighborhood full of one-million-dollar houses. This particular house cost 1.3 million dollars.

Three days after they bought the house, the family's nightmare started. A concerning warning about the house arrived by mail. The shocking letter, sent to 'The New Owner', was signed by 'The Watcher'.

Even before the Broaddus family started renovations in their new home, the letter turned around their world upside down.

In the first and subsequent letters, there were threats to the children and statements that they were going to be watched 24/7. They arrived without stamps, which meant that they were hand-delivered to the home's mailbox.

"Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone?" one of the letters said. "I would [be] very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream."

The letters caused serious anxiety for the family. It seemed like someone wanted them to leave their new home as soon as possible.

After the story of 'The Watcher' went viral, Ryan Murphy ('Dahmer - Monster', 'American Crime Story', 'American Horror Story') decided to create a series about it for Netflix.

Ryan Murphy's version of 'The Watcher' included a few extra, darker characters, some secret passageways, and even connections to QAnon. In reality, the story is a bit simpler, though equally disturbing.

At some point in the real story, increasing details about the family were discussed: the family car model, the workers that were doing the renovation, and worst of all, the three children of the family.

The Broaddus family went to the police, consulted lawyers, and even spoke with the mayor to try to deal with the problem, but the solution they were given was always the same: To sell the house.

However, once the news about the house was out, selling it became complicated. The Broaddusses were always honest about what was happening in their home and potential buyers were immediately scared off.

In the meantime, more letters were delivered to the house, and the tone and the threats were growing darker and more unsettling.

"All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Who am I? I am the Watcher and have been in control of 657 Boulevard for the better part of two decades now. The Woods family turned it over to you. It was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to."

"I pass by many times a day. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too..."

The situation was so worrying that the Broaddus family never got to live at 657 Boulevard in Westfield. In the Netflix series, however, the fictional family does move into the house.

Regarding the real Watcher, they have never been caught. A DNA test offered the possibility that it could be a woman, but nothing else came from it.

In the end, the Broaddus family sold the house for 959.000 dollars, losing more than 400.000 dollars.

Before they sold the house, the family received one last letter. "You wonder who The Watcher is? Turn around idiots. Maybe you even spoke to me, one of the so called neighbors who has no idea who The Watcher could be. Or maybe you do know and are too scared to tell anyone. Good move."