The famous house that The Watcher watched and sent his many letters to 

If you are a fan of TV shows and movies, especially series, I bet that you are no stranger to the Netflix series “The Watcher.” This spooky show takes us through the life of a family who is being stocked. This show has been a hit with all different audiences. Although this is not just simply a Netflix series, it is a true story. Maria and Derek Broaddus purchased their dream house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014, only to later receive creepy letters from a stalker known as The Watcher. Now, their story is being brought to life with the Netflix series “The Watcher.”

The Letters

The letters’ sender identified themselves as being the watcher throughout the letters. The Broadduses’ shared the content of the letters, with the first one stating “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 it 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.” The Watcher also made many references to the children in the house, referring to them as “young blood.” The Broadduses went to the police and they highly recommended not sharing the contents of the letters, as their suspicion was that a neighbor was the one who was writing the letters.

Netflix V.S Real World

The Watcher is currently ranked among Netflix’s top 10 shows. Netflix made a few changes to the true story. Besides the name changes and the number of children the family has, there are a handful of things that were false in the show. The neighbors were only somewhat based on real people. The Broaddus family didn’t have a teenage daughter, so the whole storyline of Ellie dating an older boy was false and made up in production. Pearl and Jasper were based on neighbors they had called Peggy and Michael, who were the prime suspects at one point in the case, but were eventually ruled out. The character of Andrew and his wife and son was also fictional. John Graff and the crimes he committed were based on reality. Derek Broaddus, just like Dean Braddock, did become obsessed with discovering the identity of the Watcher, however, he never sent any of the letters himself, and he did not continue to visit the home after selling it, like in the show. However, just like in the show, the Watcher was never caught.

Several investigations took place, both by police and former FBI agents hired by the Broadusses’ over the years. However, to this date, the identity of The Watcher continues to remain a mystery, and many continue to ponder upon who the Watcher could be.