The Watcher quickly became the top series on Netflix in its debut, dethroning Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story from its perch. Both are Ryan Murphy productions and they’ve both garnered a lot of attention for a mix of reasons, good and bad.
For The Watcher, it has had an unfortunate but not fully unexpected effect on the current owners of the home featured in the series. While the owners depicted in the original story and the Netflix series likely had a rougher time due to the ominous notes left in their mailbox. But the current owners are facing some headaches and “living a nightmare,” according to the New York Post.
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According to the outlet, a “parade of gawkers” have descended upon the home and seems to be causing great interruption to the day-to-day life of the owners. The Post visited earlier in the week, witnessing a woman exiting the home and moving a Westfield Police barricade to back out with their car.
Despite Halloween decorations adorning the home, the no-trespassing signs and police barricades tell a story about too many people visiting due to the creepy mini-series. People were using lunch breaks and other excuses to make a trip out to the home, usually to snap a photo or to discover if the story from the show is real.
“You don’t know if it’s real or not. You don’t know what to believe,” 16-year-old Victoria Bas told the outlet. “A lot of kids and teachers are talking about it. I hear about it in my history class and in the hallways.”
They all share something with the stalker who has been dubbed The Watcher due to the creepy letters they left behind back in 2014. Much like fellow creepy correspondence from the likes of Zodiac or Son of Sam, the letters were all signed “The Watcher” and seemed fixated on the home.
“Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too (sic) me,” one of the notes read. “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,” another added.
The notes were enough to keep Derek and Maria Broaddus from moving into the home in 2014, leaving them to sell in 2019 for little under a $1 million. No “Watcher” was ever found by the Westfield police and a lot of what happens in the mini-series is fiction, but the letters were very real. Also real are the watchers outside the home right now, snapping photos and trying to see if they can have a creepy encounter themselves.
