Westfield, NJ and Its Connection to Two Haunting Netflix Series

Two highly-anticipated series are premiering on Netflix this Fall. One is The Watcher, a series from American Horror Story master Ryan Murphy, which is set to release on October 13. The other is the Tim Burton series Wednesday, which doesn’t have an exact release date yet. Just a vague “Fall 2022.” Besides Netflix, both of these shows share something else in common: Westfield, New Jersey. Let’s explore the connection.

The Watcher and Westfield Connection

“You can actually look out and see everything that’s going on in the town,” Karen Calhoun (Jennifer Coolidge) says about halfway into the teaser Netflix recently released for The Watcher (below). “But you want to keep the curtains closed. You know, there’s a lot of weird neighbors and stuff out there, you know. You don’t want them watching you. That’s for sure.”

Coolidge plays a real estate agent charged with selling the lovely 657 Boulevard, an upscale house in Westfield, New Jersey. Other than her semi-ominous statement about weird neighbors, you might think the teaser was for a forthcoming comedy on the streamer. Maybe one about real estate agents?

Unless you’re familiar with the Westfield Watcher case, that is. Or you scan the QR code at the end of the trailer, which takes you to Netflix, and the description for the mystery series:

Ominous letters. Strange neighbors. Sinister threats. A family moves into their suburban dream home, only to discover they’ve inherited a nightmare.

But I take exception to the word “inherited.” The Broaddus family didn’t “inherit” the house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, NJ. They did inherit the “Watcher” they claimed came with it when they bought it, though.

Their story started shortly after they closed on the house. They allegedly received a menacing letter from an unidentified person, who, among other things, made the creepy declaration: “My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time.” It was signed simply, “The Watcher.”

But they didn’t receive just one letter. There were more. And in time there were accusations about neighbors who may have done it, the police were involved, private investigators hired, and cameras set up, but the Watcher’s identity was never revealed. Which makes it a super creepy haunting house story and in Ryan Murphy’s hands has the potential to make an excellent series. We shall soon see…

Wednesday and the Westfield Connection

Wednesday isn’t set in Westfield, NJ. It finds the namesake of the series attending Nevermore Academy…after having some trouble staying in other schools. (Bringing piranhas to school will do that.)

However, as we all know the series was inspired by the Addams Family movies and TV series, which was based on a comic strip by Charles Addams. Westfield is where Addams hails from.

In fact, the city is so proud of their native son (and rightly so) that every year in October they throw a town-wide and month-long celebration known as AddamsFest in his honor. There’s lots of art, including the Wicked Windows of Westfield and the Haunt Your House contest where residents and business owners can really display their creativity.

But there’s so much more, including scary movies, Morticia and Gomez’s Masquerade Ball, and Charlie’s Ale Garden that blends AddamsFest with Octoberfest. So that’s Wednesday‘s connection with Westfield.

Check-In

Fall River, MA, and the Lizzie Borden house. Estes Park, CO, and the Stanley Hotel. Salem, MA, and the witch trials. Based on its history with the Watcher house and the Addams Family, do you see Westfield, NJ, possibly becoming a dark tourist destination too? (Perhaps for some it already is? I know it’s on my list of places to jaunt to!)

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.