A cursed town, superstitious locals, and Salem-style lore might sound like the typical setup for a classic folk horror, but the new Apple TV show, Widow’s Bay, adds a modern twist that fans of the genre are sure to get a kick out of.
What makes the show’s titular setting feel so contemporary is the town’s no-nonsense mayor’s matter-of-fact attitude towards the island’s folklore. His skepticism clashes with the town’s lingering spooks, so when a New York Times reporter arrives to write a travel feature, the tension between belief and disbelief fuels a comedic showdown.
That premise might suggest just another comedy-horror poking fun at genre clichés, but Widow’s Bay takes a much different route. Rather than operating as a satire like What We Do In The Shadows, its humor comes from sharp comedic timing and character-driven writing that softens the scares without undercutting them.
“We wanted people to act like they would in very tense and terrifying situations. If you know the characters well enough, the humor comes from the character. We were constantly trying to balance that,” she added.
Such a focus on making the horror emotionally realistic means that Widow’s Bay leans more into the drama of the situation, but there are some unmistakable references that anyone from the 80s will instantly recognize – largely because of the influences that helped sculpt the show’s visual style.
“I’m obsessed with Jaws. Like I want to live there, which most people wouldn’t because there’s a shark that’s gonna kill you. But I want to be there,” she said, recalling childhood summers in Long Branch, New Jersey, spent running through a haunted boardwalk attraction.
“We’d scream and we’d laugh and we’d scream and then we’d laugh again, and it was all strangely cathartic,” she said, before adding “that moment where terror turns into laughter is a feeling I’ve just been trying to recapture ever since”.
That philosophy is baked into the show’s atmosphere. Even the teaser trailer’s 30-second siren wailing into the fog (see above) captures the series’ fixation on atmospheric tension.
Much of the show’s setting might be inspired by Stephen King’s island town, but other influences helped shape the series’s pacing and style. Indeed, Dippold describes the show’s influences as “a big stew”.
One key ingredient was Atlanta, whose director, Hiro Murai, was recruited to help shape the series’ visual language. “I just never read anything like it before,” Murai said during the Apple TV panel about first seeing the script for the series. “It felt like a TV show from the past, but so modern at the same time.”
Such a unique concept ended up being a challenge of Murai when it came to visualizing the show. “There’s something inherently nostalgic about the show. It feels like your memory of seeing a scary ’80s movie, and I think the challenge was: how do you take that feeling and literalize it? It’s uncanny to revisit your memory,” he said.
Lead star Matthew Rhys, who plays the embattled mayor Tom, felt the same attraction to the project. “I’d certainly never read anything like it. I’m a child of the ’80s, I grew up with The Wicker Man and Jaws. This was everything I thought I would never get to do.”
Rhys sums up the tone best with: “Children of the Corn meets The Goonies.” All the hallmarks are present, from a cursed coastal history to an unnatural fog and townsfolk clinging to superstition. All topped off by a mayor who, at one point, yells ‘F**k Cape Cod’. Welcome to Widow’s Bay.
The first three episodes of Widow’s Bay will premiere on 29 April, 2026, with the rest of the season rolling out weekly.
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amelia.schwanke@futurenet.com (Amelia Schwanke)
