A New England town is attempting to be the next best thing to Martha’s Vinyards, but there is just one little problem.
Widow’s Bay
Widow’s Bay is an American horror-comedy series on Apple TV, directed by the amazing Hiro Murai. This series was created by Katie Dippold and stars Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick and Stephen Root.
The premise of the series is an ancient curse placed on the town of Widow’s Bay that afflicts the people born there. People who weren’t born on the island don’t know about the curse, such as Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), a widower with a teenage son, Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick). There are ten episodes in season one with a second season already approved. When Mayor Tom Loftis plans to bring tourism to Widow’s Bay, he clashes with a local resident/fisherman, Wyck (Stephen Root), after another fisherman goes missing.
Strange events begin to happen as the town prepares for a big tourist weekend. The church bell rings nine times during the night even though it is chained up. A foreboding fog warns that the curse has become active. There are all kinds of scary events and deaths taking place, but there is also comedy involved thanks to Tom’s eccentric staff, which includes his assistants, Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), Rosemary (Dale Dickey), Ruth (K Callan) and Dale (Jeff Hiller).
As Tom learns more about the curse and his family’s involvement, he and Sheriff Clemmons (Kevin Carroll) risk their lives to protect the tourists as all hell breaks loose.
Conclusion
I fell in love with this series. Widow’s Bay is the perfect marriage of horror and comedy. It’s as if the cast of Seinfeld met Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House.
The series provides background on the curse through flashback episodes. I’m surprised that I loved Widow’s Bay as much as I did because, except for Mike Flanagan‘s work, I’m not usually a big fan of horror series
Now, what makes Widow’s Bay a favourite for me is the injection of comedy wrapped neatly in unexpected screams of fear. For example, when Boogeyman is chasing Patricia, and she is running for help, or when Tom, Wyck and Patricia dig up a 400- year-old corpse, my daughter and I are covering our eyes in fear and laughing at the same time. That combination takes pure talent, not only in writing but also in casting. Widow’s Bay is on Apple TV. It’s worth the price of the app.
