The Watcher Letters

The Watcher Letters

You may remember this eerie tale, because it’s recent and it was very highly publicized. A New Jersey family sued the previous owners of their home after they received three disturbing letters from someone who called him or herself “the Watcher,” who was fixated on the 1905 Colonial-style home and its new occupants. The unidentified letter-writer certainly had a spectacularly creepy way with words, referring to Derek and Maria Broaddus’ three children as “the young blood you have brought to me,” and asking things like, “Have they found out what’s in the walls yet?” (You can read the entire lawsuit, which is filled with nightmare material, here.)

The lawsuit, which is still in court, was filed after the Broaddus family abandoned the house, fearing for their safety. Its basis is that the previous owners knew about “the Watcher,” but didn’t bother to warn them ahead of time. The house was put up for sale in February 2015, but the listing was removed once the story began receiving media attention.

    👉 The house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, NJ. Note the For Sale sign.
Last month, the Broaddus family made a bold move, according to NJ.com. Since nobody wants to pay a million bucks for a house that has such a strong stigma attached to it, they applied for a planning board permit to tear the house down and replace it with two new dwellings. It’s one way to assuage their financial burden while their suit is still in court, and as a bonus, it’s a tidy FU to the stalker, too.