The success of the Netflix series, “The Watchers”, unleashed a tourist phenomenon that has the state of New Jersey, United Stateswho came to the town of Westfield to meet 657 Boulevard, the house where the events narrated in the series took place: a family, the Broaddus, bought the house in 2014 and after moving began to receive letters from an unknown person, who signed as “The Watcher” (“El Vigilante”) . Those texts contained specific details about the members of the family, which could only be known by someone who was very close to the house.
According to the story, the “vigilante” maintained that this house had been his family’s for decades. “Now that he’s about to turn 110, they put me in charge of observing … My time has come. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here I’m going to find out”, he reaffirmed in one of the texts.
The events suffered by the owners of 657 Boulevard, who some time later decided to move, were narrated for the first time in “The Cut”one of the sites New York Timesin 2018. Interestingly, after the Broaddus left the house and it was acquired by another family, similar events were never reported again.
Another of the houses in the United States that has become a focus for tourists is the 112 Ocean Avenuein Amityville, inspiration from the well-known movie saga “Terror in Amityville”. Tourists came to see the house so much that its numbering was changed to 108 Ocean Avenue, in order to prevent horror fans from continuing to see it. The windows were also changed: the original ones looked like a pair of eyes.
The house became known worldwide due to what happened on November 14, 1974: a family, the DeFeos, was murdered by the eldest son, Ronald DeFeo, Jr.
Ronald killed them in their sleep, in their beds, with a rifle, in the middle of the morning. Except for his mother, whom he shot in the head, they all had the shot in the back, and they all lay face down, with their heads resting on their arms, placed in the shape of a cross.
The murderer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the six members of his family. But what was chilling was his defense: he claimed that some voices had forced him to commit the crimes.
The Lutzes, the family that occupied Amityville after the DeFeos, claimed that all kinds of supernatural events occurred during their stay. But then they were denied when it was discovered that his statements were part of an agreement with Ronald DeFeo, who promised them fame and money in exchange for confirming his version, in order to reduce his sentence.
Of course, if we have to talk about famous assassins in the United States, the name of Charles Manson shines in the firmament of the most famous assassins remembered by popular culture. The killer, who had spent half his life in correctional institutions for numerous crimes, was fascinated by the song. Helter Skelterof The Beatles, and in his delirium he thought that it predicted a racial war between blacks and whites, which could be avoided by perpetrating murders. The name of the song was even written in blood at the scene of one of her crimes.
Manson led a sect known as “The Manson Family” or “The Manson Clan”, who helped him commit his murders. Manson exerted a real fascination on his members, who were mostly women.
In the early 1970s, Manson was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of four people, including actress Sharon Tate. Tate, who was close to giving birth, was found at her mansion in 10050 Sky Drivein Los Angeles, died by sixteen stab wounds of which, according to the expertise, “five would have been fatal on their own.”
But the next day, at dawn, the gang marched to something else: 3301 Waverly Drive where they murdered Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, repeatedly stabbing them with a steak knife and carving fork, which belonged to the victims. For Leno 12 stabs with the knife and 14 with the fork. For Rosemary it was no less bloody: 41 stab wounds, and the word “pig” was written on her belly. They then wrote hateful messages on the furniture and appliances in the house.
Following his crimes, Manson was sentenced to death, but the sentence was changed to life in prison when in 1972 the California Supreme Court temporarily abolished that sentence in the state. Several of the members of the Manson Clan were sentenced to life imprisonment, except for those who decided to provide evidence against the leader of the gang. Charles Manson passed away in 2017 due to colon cancer, at the age of 83.
In addition to dedicating himself to the world of crime, Manson was a musician, which helped position him as a symbol of the macabre culture, since bands and musicians such as Guns N’ Roses either Marilyn Manson compose songs inspired by his figure.
In 2019, the house where the LaBiancas were killed was listed for sale for $2 million and the agent managing the sale, Robert Giambalvo, called it a “rare opportunity to own a home with “awesome visits”. As for the gruesome story, he stated that it should not be an impediment to its sale since it was “a very quiet place where there is a lot of peaceso I don’t think anyone cares what happened a long time ago.” Of course, you have to put up with the thousands of fans who do the Charles Manson tour, and they go to take photos of the front of the house.
The House of 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, UK, was also the scene of gruesome events that for a time generated a tourist phenomenon until its demolition. In that house, Fred and Rosemary West They raped, tortured and murdered at least 12 young women, almost all of them girls who had no relatives to claim them. Fred was charged with 11 deaths and Rosemary with 10. In January 1995, Fred committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell, leaving a note: a drawing of a tombstone that read: “In loving memory. Fred West. Rose West. Rest in peace where no shadow falls. In perfect peace he waits for Rose, his wife.”
For a time, the sinister couple’s home became Gloucester’s biggest tourist attraction, even bigger than its cathedral. A businessman, eager to make money off the lure of true crime fans, was said to have been interested in buying it. But in 1996, once the police had finished with the investigations, the local council decided to open a road right there and for that they decided to demolish the house, smash every brick, set fire to every piece of wood: so that no fan of the gruesome events occur inside these houses will keep a “souvenir”. After all, stories like the Wests’ are proof that there are people out there who have fun in the strangest and most terrifying ways.
The presence of these places, where horrific crimes were committed, can alter the life of a neighborhood, which can be frightened and fascinated at the same time, knowing the events that occurred there. But hopefully these places, where such horrendous things happened, are not demolished as in the case of Fred and Rosemary’s house, and can remain forever as monuments, as a reminder and warning of the darkest side of humans.
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