NJ - " I am the Watcher..." -- A Hoax ?

[BeginnerSleuther]

Hoax—First, their reaction to the letters just didn’t match the threat IMO. I mean the letters were creepy for sure and way more than just “vaguely” threatening, especially regarding the children. The police were right to investigate it. But they were just letters—anonymous letters. To make them completely abandon their one million plus dream house they just spent $100,000 renovating and moving all their stuff in and to move in with parents instead? Really? Seems a bit much. I would have been more angry than scared and would have just gotten a really good security system with cameras everywhere. I would have been prepared and aware at all times for IF something happened, but they seemed to really go off the deep end with fear.

Well, you don't know about their history though. Had they been the victims of crime before? Maybe a victim of a stalker? People who've been traumatized by crime/bullying/harassment in the past are going to react much stronger to it if it happens again. That's been proven with victims of all kinds of crime.

I, myself, was the victim of a home intruder. You better believe when I come home at night, if I'm alone, and something is amiss, I'm right back there to that awful night. I have a protection now, but it will always be in the back of my mind.

So I can imagine a scenario where maybe there's something in the past that still haunts one or both of them and it amplified this situation.

Anyway, the reason I'm back on this thread is because it came up when I searched for the Circleville Letters. The Websleuths thread on Circleville has been deleted and I'm not sure why. Was it solved? 48 Hours is doing something on it tonight so I wanted to alert people to it.

 

[happyday]

Well, you don't know about their history though. Had they been the victims of crime before? Maybe a victim of a stalker? People who've been traumatized by crime/bullying/harassment in the past are going to react much stronger to it if it happens again. That's been proven with victims of all kinds of crime.

I, myself, was the victim of a home intruder. You better believe when I come home at night, if I'm alone, and something is amiss, I'm right back there to that awful night. I have a protection now, but it will always be in the back of my mind.

So I can imagine a scenario where maybe there's something in the past that still haunts one or both of them and it amplified this situation.

Anyway, the reason I'm back on this thread is because it came up when I searched for the Circleville Letters. The Websleuths thread on Circleville has been deleted and I'm not sure why. Was it solved? 48 Hours is doing something on it tonight so I wanted to alert people to it.

That’s true. It seemed like sort of an extreme reaction to me, but it really does depend on so many factors.
Thanks for the heads up about the 48 hours show. I haven’t thought about this for a while. I’ll be interested to watch it.

 

[DetectiveDraper]

As wise folks have said before me -- follow the money on a case like this. Who is benefiting financially? Who was last money on this property? Was there ever a dispute or "bad blood" between neighbors? Any background on the homeowners being charlatans? I think this is a lot less ominous than it seems -- the notes read like bad Edgar Allen Poe.

 

[dotr]

Netflix's 'The Watcher' Is Based On A Real, Super Spooky Ordeal

In 2014, the Broaddus family started receiving some eerie letters from someone calling themselves 'The Watcher.'

crafty.diply.com

''A spooky new Netflix story focuses on a couple that's unable to figure out who's watching them from a distance. But this story isn't fiction. In fact, it's based on something that happened in real life.

'The Watcher' premieres in October 13 of 2022.''​

''The seven-episode miniseries was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, and concerns the lives of a couple — played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale — who start receiving mysterious notes shortly after moving into their dream home.''

''Unsplash | sue hughes
A typical letter reads:
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.''

 

[NoseyRecluse]

I could be mistaken - I watched the mini-series, and got the impression it was implicating the English teacher who gave the "dear House" assignment.

 

[Shamrock1]

The “based on real life” is such a stretch. The real family never actually moved into the house! The show is practically more about John List than the house. And anytime I see anything about John List, I encourage them to read up on Frank Bender - he was the one who made the sculpture. Such an interesting guy, and a shame mesothelioma took him. “The Girl with the Crooked Nose” is a good book on his works.

(A lot of these small historic towns in the Northeast have a handful of retired folks who take things Victorian paint colors personally. Personally saw an empty-nester weep about someone else’s hydrangeas and I know of one spat over roofing shingles that culminated in a few flat tires). That’s my guess.)

 

[Vaderman]

The Cut just did a long profile on The Watcher that includes full transcripts rather than excerpts from the letters. Also the family at the house has come forward with interviews. I know many people thought the family was behind The Watcher, but curious to hear thoughts now that there is a lot more information.

The Haunting of a Dream House

I watched the Netflix series loosely based on this story and read "The Cut" article mentioned in this quote.

I finally read through all of the posts in the thread. I'm not as convinced that the homeowners were behind the letters. It still may be a "hoax" in the sense that the author fabricated aspects in their letter, but I am inclined to believe the family in the house set up this elaborate scheme.