The show is wild.
If you’ve watched The Watcher on Netflix since its release, you’re probably already researching every single aspect of the case.
Knocking Dahmer off the top 10 spot, The Watcher has taken the streaming service by storm and the true story has viewers hooked.
The show follows a family who move into their dream home in New Jersey but it soon becomes a living nightmare when they receive creepy and threatening letters from an “obsessed” stalker who has been watching over the house for decades.
Based on a true story, the show was developed from New York Magazine’s The Watcher which documented Derek and Maria Broaddus’ experience.
After arriving at the home, they received a letter which read: “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.”
It added: “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… I pass by many times a day.
“657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession.
“And now you are too Broaddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed!”
The family, understandably, moved out – but where are they now? According to The Cut, the real life Broaddus family still live in New Jersey but not in the same area.
They never actually moved into 657 Boulevard and instead decided to rent it cheaply for a few years before selling it in 2019 for $400,000 than what they had paid for.
When the new family moved in, they left a note saying “We wish you nothing but the peace and quiet that we once dreamed of in this house,” as well as a picture of one of the notes from The Watcher so the handwriting could be identified if needed, but thankfully nothing has happened since.
Asking Netflix for fake names to be used in the series, the family have always avoided interviews and comments, with Derek saying he would not be watching the show.
