2 Real-Life Mysteries That Are Similar to ‘The Watcher’
It is, once again, spooky season. With October comes plenty of horror flicks, suspense offerings, and, in more recent years, a smattering of true crime tales that will ensure you are locking your windows and double-checking the doors at night. Netflix recently released The Watcher, a true crime tale that has drawn viewers worldwide into a creepy mystery out of a small town in New Jersey. Would you believe it if we told you The Watcher isn’t the only well-known mystery involving letters and strange bumps in the night? We have two more true crime tales that might interest you if The Watcher has you on the edge of your seat.
What is ‘The Watcher’ based on?
The Watcher is a fictionalized true story about a family who purchased their dream house in Westfield, New Jersey. The tiny town, known for its award-winning school system and idyllic downtown, feels like the perfect place to raise a family. That’s what Derek and Maria Broaddus thought when they purchased a home in the town in 2014.
Shortly after the sale, the couple, who opted to renovate the home before moving in, began receiving ominous letters. The author, who called themselves “the watcher,” claimed to be tasked with watching the house. In several letters, he referred to the “young blood” that would roam the halls. Terrorized by the letters, they eventually sold the home. The mystery has not been solved.
The mystery of the Circleville letters
What happens when someone in a small town seems to know everyone’s secrets and is hell-bent on using them to terrorize residents? That’s exactly what happened in Circleville, Ohio. Just 13,000 people live in Circleville today, and it wasn’t much different in the 1970s when an anonymous letter writer began their campaign to terrorize the town.
Starting in 1977, an anonymous writer began revealing the secrets of several town residents, with a heavy focus on the superintendent of schools, Gordon Massie, and Mary Gillispie, a bus driver. The anonymous writer threatened both, claiming they were having an affair.
Gillispie’s husband, Ron Gillispie, died in a suspicious car accident after insisting he knew who the letter writer was. Gillispie’s brother-in-law was eventually jailed for attempted murder. The letters were part of the prosecution’s case. According to CBS News, the letters continued coming, even as Gillispie’s brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, sat in jail. In 1994, following Freshour’s release from prison, the letters stopped. Just like in The Watcher, The identity of the letter writers remains a mystery. Freshour insisted he was innocent during his incarceration and after his release. He died without the identity of the letter writer being revealed.
Bill and Dorothy Wacker were terrorized in their own home for nearly a decade
Bill and Dorothy Wacker were an older couple living quietly in an Ohio town when someone suddenly started harassing them. In 1984, the couple’s home was broken into. The police were alerted. Several months after the break-in, a mystery man knocked on the door and asked to use the phone. He attacked Dorothy, who was home alone and tied her up before vanishing. She was not seriously injured, but several items were stolen from the Wacker’s home.
Over the course of time, each item, including a gun, a video camera, and a watch, was returned quietly to the couple. Threatening phone calls, handwritten notes, knocks on the house at night, a second physical attack, and other odd events occurred for nearly a decade. Still, the assailant avoided detection, despite police and family involvement. Bill Wacker died in 1999. Dorothy died 11 years later. The case was never solved but continues to be heavily discussed on true crime podcasts and Reddit.
