If true crime is your thing, then at the moment Netflix is the place to be. Ryan Murphy, the man behind Dahmer - Monster: A Jeffrey Dahmer Story , American Horror Story and the less spooky Glee, is knocking it out of the park.
His latest release is seven episodes of slow-building, ominous terror. A family moves into a beautiful new house but they're plagued with letters from a mysterious person who calls themselves 'The Watcher'.
With a cast that boasts Naomi Watts, Mia Farrow and Jennifer Coolidge, a story that opens with a white-picket-fence dream turns into a nightmare. No matter what they do, the family can't rid themselves of the Watcher and the terror they impose.
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As with some of the most creepy on-screen terrors, this one is based on true events. In 2018, The Cut, a website offshoot of New York magazine, published a story about a New Jersey family's nightmare after being stalked by a mysterious letter writer.
It told the story of the Broaddus family, a traditional all-American family who bought their six-bed dream house in 2014. Derek Broaddus and his wife Maria had only been in their home for three days when the first mysterious letter appeared in his mailbox.
A thick, white, card-shaped envelope was addressed, in what The Cut describes as "clunky handwriting" to "The New Owner". Inside was a typed note that read:
"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."
The terrifying letter continued, identifying the family's vehicle, referencing the contractors that were carrying out repairs and the renovations that the family had begun. If that wasn't creepy enough, the letter writer focused on the couple's three children.
They wrote: "You have children. I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted.
"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."
There was more to come for the terrified Derek Broaddus, as the envelope had no return address and no means of identifying the writer. "Who am I?" they typed.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of cars that drive by 657 Boulevard each day. Maybe I am in one.
"Look at all the windows you can see from 657 Boulevard. Maybe I am in one.
"Look out any of the many windows in 657 Boulevard at all the people who stroll by each day. Maybe I am one.”
The letter concluded with a suggestion that this message would not be the last — “Welcome my friends, welcome. Let the party begin” — followed by a signature typed in a cursive font: “The Watcher.”
Without hesitation, Derek Broaddus went to the police and the search for "The Watcher" began. A private investigator was brought in, neighbours were questioned and theories drawn up, but no answers were to be found.
Only more letters arrived. The Watcher referred to things in the walls, asked if their children - who were referred to in birth order and by their nicknames - would play in the basement and questioned who would sleep in which bedroom so they could "plan better".
Eventually, the Broaddus family stopped coming to the house and didn't move in with their children. All the investigations stalled, as The Cut noted: “The letters could be read closely for possible clues, or dismissed as the nonsensical ramblings of a sociopath.” A priest was even called in to bless the house.
But it was to avail and answers to their questions about who The Watcher was were nowhere to be found. After six months, the family decided to sell the house, but rumours of the "cursed" 657 Boulevard meant that no one wanted to buy.
Plan B was to split the land and build two separate houses but that failed after a four-hour planning meeting, attended by hundreds of local residents, rejected the idea. Eventually, a family agreed to rent the home but the Broadduses were losing money with the rent was not enough to cover the mortgage.
While it seems incredible, no one was ever able to identify the person known as The Watcher. There were several more false leads, and a Reddit group even got stuck into the theories when the story went viral.
A jilted mistress, an annoyed estate agent, guerilla marketing for a horror movie, or just “mall goths” stirring up trouble were all suggested. And now even more people will be pouring over the story and potential suspects thanks to Netflix.
As Derek Broaddus told a reporter from The Cut, the troubling situation had sunk deep into his bones and the family just had to live with it: “It’s like cancer. We think about it every day.”
The Broaddus family, who eventually managed to sell the house in 2019 for a considerable loss, were sent a final letter. Shown to the reporter from The Cut, the letter read: “You are despised by the house,” it read. “And The Watcher won.”
There are still no answers to who The Watcher really was and it's suspected that no one will ever know. Unless a confession materialises, the mystery of The Watcher of 657 Boulevard continues.
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