Fox 5 News
"We are all concerned for the family living there now and their neighbors"
The residents of this Westfield, New Jersey neighborhood are asking viewers of the new Netflix series "The Watcher" to stay far away.
Since the premiere of the series on the streaming giant, homeowners claim they have been haunted by tourists who make trips to visit the real home that serves the basis for the show.
"The Watcher" is based on the story of a family that made headlines after they moved into a house at 657 Boulevard back in 2014. The family claimed to have received ominous threatening letters sent by someone who only called themself "The Watcher."
Pradeep Soni, a visitor from Franklin, New Jersey was one of the many fans residents have seen since the show's Oct. 13 release. "I just thought I would come because of how interesting the story was," he confessed to NJ.com. "The house is nice though. It’s not creepy or anything."
Other visitors have set the scene to the publication, and noted that police cars have been stationed outside of the home where the new owners of the property reside. Locals have been firm about their stance towards unwelcome fans and have recounted lines of cars that now travel through the street on a daily basis.
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View Story"We are all concerned for the family living there now and their neighbors," resident Trish Dulinski shared. "I cannot imagine how long it will be before people lose interest so the neighborhood can go back to normal, nor can I imagine how much mail the poor current owners will receive from crackpots all over the world."
One local told Fox 5 New York that the portrayal of the neighborhood and the house in the series are inaccurate. "Nothing like that has ever happened in colonial Westfield, and I know the boulevard. I know the house. It just seems a little bizarre to me," they noted.
"The Watcher" is inspired by the Broaddus family and how they received a series of letters containing ominous threats and warnings from a mysterious watcher back in 2014. The Broaddus family eventually filed a lawsuit against the previous owners for claims they had been aware of the letters before the sale. The watcher was never identified.
