Anonymous letters, strange neighbors and disturbing threats. Dean (Bobby Cannavale) and Nora Brannock (Naomi Watts) find themselves in a terrifying situation when they have just purchased their dream home in the heart of an idyllic New Jersey suburb.
This true waking nightmare is the main plot of The vigilantseries imagined by Ryan Murphy (Happiness, american horror story, Dahmer…) and Ian Brennan. Available from October 13 on Netflix, this show made up of seven episodes seduces horror fans, as evidenced by its first place in the Top 10 France on the platform.
threatening letters
The series begins in June 2014. For his 40th birthday, Dean Brannock offers himself, along with his wife, Nora, and their children, their dream home estimated at $1.3 million. But when the family moved into this house, located at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, he received a disturbing letter in his mailbox, signed by a certain “The Watcher” (Le Veilleur in French version).
In it, this mysterious character claims that the house has been guarded for more than 100 years and has a special history.
“Do you know what 657 Boulevard contains? I wonder what brings you there? Who am I? It may not scare you yet, but it will come,” he wrote in this first letter.
Later, Dean and Nora Brannock receive two increasingly terrifying letters. “I am delighted to learn the names of the new blood you have brought me. New blood hasn’t lived in this house for years,” details The Watcher, referring to the couple’s children.
But a new event arrives to make the situation even more distressing: the Brannock family finds strangers hiding in their house. Dean then warns the police who open an investigation. At the same time, he installs a camera and alarm system and hires a private detective to watch the neighborhood.
Inspired by a true story
To write this chilling story, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan were inspired by the true story of Derek and Maria Broaddus and their three children, which occurred in 2014 and was recounted in 2018 in an article published by the New York Magazine.
If the police found no culprit, the Broadduses, concerned for their safety, ended up moving and putting this house up for sale, just eight months after it was settled.
As expected, all the potential buyers left one by one as soon as they learned the history of the place. It wasn’t until 2019 that the house found a buyer, for $959,000, or $400,000 less than the purchase price.
Since then, Derek and Maria Broaddus have filed a complaint against the former owners, accusing them of having lied when buying the house. Still traumatized by this experience, the couple try despite everything to move on and have rebuilt their lives.
Source: BFM TV
