The Watcher Media: Close The Blinds

Meredith Quill · August 23, 2021

Your Media Topic!

BetterButter · September 9, 2022

BetterButter · September 24, 2022

Snazzy Daisy · September 26, 2022

In November 2018, New York Magazine published “The Watcher” which chronicled a New Jersey family’s being stalked by a mysterious, threatening letter writer. The article, by Reeves Wiedeman, is the basis of an upcoming Netflix limited series created by Ryan Murphy.

The Watcher: A family bought their dream house. But according to the creepy letters they started to get, they weren’t the only ones interested in it.

Edited September 26, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

AnimeMania · October 2, 2022

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Dean and Nora Brannock just purchased their dream home in the idyllic suburb of Westfield, New Jersey,

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but after putting all of their savings into closing the deal they soon realize the neighborhood is less than welcoming to their family.
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There’s a kooky older woman named Pearl and her brother Jasper, who sneaks into the Brannock’s house and hides in their dumbwaiter.

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There’s Karen, the realtor and an old acquaintance of Nora’s, who makes them feel like they don’t really belong,

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and nosy neighbors Mitch and Mo, who don’t seem to understand property lines.

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Their icy welcome quickly turns into a full-blown living hell when ominous letters from someone calling themself “The Watcher” start arriving, terrorizing the Brannocks to their breaking point as the neighborhood’s sinister secrets come spilling out. Based on the true story of the infamous “Watcher” house in New Jersey.

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Naomi Watts as Nora Brannock
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Bobby Cannavale as Dean Brannock

Isabel Gravitt as Ellie, the Brannock daughter

Luke David Blumm as Carter, the Brannock son
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Jennifer Coolidge as Karen Calhoun, the realtor and longtime friend of Nora.

Mia Farrow as Pearl

Terry Kinney as Jasper

Margo Martingale as Mo

Richard Kind as Mitch

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Henry Hunter Hall as Vanguard Home Security Installer

Joe Mantello as Mr. Graff

Aidan Pierce Brennan as Dale Graff

Samantha Blaire Cutler as Patricia Graff

Lily Talevski as Rose Pierce

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Noma Dumezweni as Theodora

Christopher McDonald

Seth Gabel

What is the truth? The previous owners, John and Andrea Woods lived in the house for 23 years and received one letter from "The Watcher" on May 26, 2014, right before the house was sold in June 2014. The Broaddus family with there "3 fairly young" children decide to purchase their dream home in a small town in New Jersey at 657 Boulevard, Westfield, N.J. 07090 (not Zip Code: 11537) for over 1.3 million dollars in 2014. The house built in 1905, not 1921, is a 6-bedroom, 4-bathroom Dutch Colonial with a basement and multiple fireplaces. As they were moving their belongings and visiting the house, they began to receive the mysterious letters in the mail from "The Watcher". Unnerved by the creepiness of the letters containing seemingly personal information and vague threats of harm to their children, an alarm system was installed, but the Broaddus family never moved into the house. The first letter was in June, three days after the house closing. The next letter arrived two weeks later and a third letter arrived, several weeks after that. The Broaddus family attempted to sell the house in 2015. They tried to have the house torn down is 2017 and have two new houses placed on the lot. A tenant who was living in the house around this time, claims to have received a fourth letter. Since the purchase of the house, the Broaddus family has been in constant litigation over it. In 2018, New York Magazine wrote an article about the family's plight and soon after Netflix negotiates the TV rights. The Broaddus family managed to sell the house in 2019 for less than a million dollars.

One theory is it might have been one of the bidders on the house that didn't get it, using information they overheard about the Broaddus family.

bilgistic · October 4, 2022

Here's the updated article about the Broadduses' ordeal. This was originally written in November 2018, and is referenced by @BetterButter, above. It's a long piece but very interesting and super creepy. I'm excited for this show!

Peanut6711 · October 14, 2022

On 10/4/2022 at 6:59 PM, bilgistic said:

Here's the updated article about the Broadduses' ordeal. This was originally written in November 2018, and is referenced by @BetterButter, above. It's a long piece but very interesting and super creepy. I'm excited for this show!

Great follow-up article! Answered questions I still had and then some. I can't help but think that the case was solvable but there were people in the community who didn't want it solved. What might have started as one older person with too much time on their hands and a bite against the Broadduses eventually spiraled out of control, and that person is still being protected. If I was the Broadduses, I would have left Westfield and probably sold the house to that horror movie company. After everything they were put through, it would have been fun to watch the neighbor's get their panties in a wad when film crews besieged the neighborhood for weeks or months on end.