The Watcher House
In 2014, the Broaddus family purchased their beautiful dream home in Westfield, New Jersey. However, shortly after closing on the 1.35 million dollar home...their dreams began to crumble into fear and paranoia.
A few days after closing on their new home, on June 5th, they received a threatening, ominous letter. The person, who did not identify themselves, wrote “My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming.” It was signed, simply, The Watcher.
A bit freaked out and feeling oddly targeted the Broaddus family continued the moving process. However, by july 18th, they received two more letters. In these letters, the writer let the family know they were being watched and wrote: “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”
Unsure of what to do next, Mr. Broaddus decided to call the police. Meanwhile, they also contacted John and Andrea Woods. The Woods family had lived in the home for over 20 years without incident. However, they did admit that they received a similar letter from ‘The Watcher’ just days before they moved out.
Another letter arrived during this asking, simply, “The workers have been busy. Have they found what is in the walls yet? In time they will.” It seems the Broaddus family had some work done on the home and The Watcher, was, well-keeping tags on the home and the family’s going-ons.
The police, now involved, question several of the neighbors, including a widow in her 90s who lived next door to the Broaddus family with several of her adult children. Mr. Broaddus, wanting to ensure his family’s safety, also set up several webcams on the property and hired more than one private investigator to find and apprehend The Watcher.
Terror continued and the Broaddus family found their dream home contained only nightmares. They decided to stay at Mrs. Broaddus’ parents’ home nearby and avoided fully moving into the new home. After just a few weeks of owning the home and never moving in, they decided to put the home back on the market.
But, the rumors of the home were already flying and the police investigation wasn’t helping. The house remained on the market. Despite lowering the price, it was not enough to entice buyers. A local reporter covered the story and it went viral, with media vans flocking to the home.
The Broaddus family decided to sue the Woods about a year later, as they had not mentioned that the house was being stalked. Their lawsuit against the Woods family was dismissed. However, some people believe that this is an attempt by the Broaddus family to capitalize on their haunted home. In fact, it is claimed Netflix bought the rights to the story...so, was the law case only meant to keep their story in the news?
Was The Watcher simply a deluded individual and an actual stalker and/or threat to the family? Perhaps they had never acted previously, but a change in ownership after 20 years of consistency may have disturbed him?
Or, are there really something in the walls of this New Jersey home that requires The Watcher to tend to it?
Thank you, Amanda R, for the blogstonishing suggestion!
The blog image comes from the Zillow listing for the home, https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/657-Boulevard-Westfield-NJ-07090/40090611_zpid/.