If you have this creepy obsession: so does much of New Jersey

Sure, we’re out of spooky season, but that doesn’t mean that we set aside our weird interest in creepy stories. Even if we have to sleep with the lights on, some of us can’t help but give in to our urges to learn about real life horror stories.

If you’re one of those people, you’re not alone.

A study was done by Privacy Journal to get to the bottom of just how intrigued by true crime cases members of each state are. New Jersey made the top 20% of states in terms of our interest.

New Jersey ranks as the 18th most obsessed state when it comes to true crime. Interest could come in different forms: films, documentaries, TV shows, books or podcasts.

I fully admit I’m one of those people who seeks out creepy content like this (shout out to my favorite true crime podcast: Last Podcast on the Left!).

It’s no surprise that New Jerseyans would have a dark interest in true crime. The town of Westfield, alone, has two infamous cases.

Westfield is the location of the infamous “Watcher” house.

The story of the “Watcher” house may sound familiar from the Netflix series that came out in 2022 which was loosely based on the story of Derek and Maria Broaddus.

The married couple moved to Westfield and then allegedly started receiving harassing letters from someone who referred to themselves as “The Watcher.”

Years prior, in November 1971, John List murdered his mother, wife, and three children in the family’s home using a semi-automatic handgun in Westfield.

Before List murdered his final victim (his son), he made himself lunch and then left the corpses of his wife and children in the ballroom of their home, but left his mother’s body upstairs in her apartment.

He then turned on their radio to a religious station, left the bodies in the home, and disappeared. It was almost a full month before the bodies were discovered.

Between these cases, ties to the mob, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, and many other instances, it’s no wonder that New Jerseyans would be darkly drawn to true crime stories.

The biggest takeaways from Privacy Journal’s study regarding the Garden State include:

⚫ New Jersey ranks 33rd for infamous serial killers
⚫ We rank 19th for famous murder cases, 21st for celebrity cases
⚫ The results show a search volume of 3,606.63 per 100,000 people for true crime topics
⚫ Women are 2.5 times likelier than men to research true crime as a means of preparation for being faced with potential dangers
⚫ Those who consume true crime content spend on average 3.8 hours per week doing so; however, Gen Z averaged 4.6 hours per week

The most searched for serial killers, according to respondents, were:

Jeffrey Dahmer

Ted Bundy

Aileen Wuornos

Jack the Ripper

John Wayne Gacy

Here are some more modern names true crime junkies should be aware of:

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kylie Moore. Any opinions expressed are Kylie's own. You can follow Kylie on Instagram.
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