Apple TV+ have consistently been putting out some stellar television of late, and while it’d be easy for any show to get lost amongst the wealth of TV streaming choices, if you haven’t yet then check out the likes of Pluribus, Shrinking, The Studio, Severance, The Morning Show, Presumed Innocent, and Silo, and that’s purely the ones that come to mind.

And to add another for now, it’s time to turn our focus to Widow’s Bay; a comedy-horror, with a dark terror edge bang in the middle. Created and exec produced by Katie Dippold, a talented comedic writer, with Parks & Rec on her CV midst other entertaining work, this series riffs on some of the finest horror/thrillers from decades gone by that includes John Carpenter and Stephen King, alongside Spielberg’s Jaws, as well as an additional dash of Mike Flanagan, leaning especially towards Midnight Mass, and I’ve been loving it – here’s an official synopsis:

Widow’s Bay is an island town 40 miles off the coast of New England, and something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is desperate to revive his struggling community, but technology isn’t up to speed, and superstitious locals believe their island is cursed. Loftis is determined to turn their home into a tourist destination and while he begins to succeed, maybe the locals were right because after decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous, start happening again…

If you’re as obsessively-mass media-minded as I am, when watching something new, you’ll be able to pick out certain moments or nods to classic titles, yet Widow’s Bay is done in such a pleasurable, subtle way that it doesn’t take you out of the show. The show is led by an epic Matthew Rhys performance as Mayor Tom Loftis, a mix of a character you might see in charge in Parks & Rec, or The Office, but dropped into this weird, bizarre world as he tries to cope and keep control – without the looks to camera. It’s quite the genre twist, but it really works. As well Rhys, this is an ensemble piece with other brilliant standouts being Stephen Root, Kate O’Flynn, and Dale Dickey, not forgetting great turns from Kingston Rumi Southwick, Jeff Hiller, Kevin Carroll, Neil Casey, Betty Gilpin, and Hamish Linklater.

With the aforementioned influence of King and Carpenter here, we drift into Widow’s Bay unsure but it’s not long before you’re caught up in the whirlwind of comedy-folk-horror-drama, with definite laugh-out-loud moments. Early on, the show plays on themes of small-town success and meddling locals, but it’s not long before things really turn for the crazy. After this, you’re confidently hitting dark humour and intriguing mystery – and even a tension-fuelled middle section in the history of New England (similar in vibe to a flashback Wednesday episode, in an effective way) and everyone revels in the tantalising terror.

After you’ve watched, I’d recommend an excellent insight with creator/writer Dippold in Filmmaker, interviewed by Tyler Coates, that you can read over on their site, by clicking here. In this, she talks about her motivations, and how this had been a spec script for some time, before developing it with exec producer Hiro Murai and honing that visual style between them. It also discusses the link between sketch comedy and horror, which is fascinating, especially in recent years with major movies and television, as we’re going through a bit of a high point with work across both spectrums.

So, if these things sound like something that’ll get you hiding behind your hands, and absolutely relishing the comedic and frightful in equal measure – within the world of hauntings, a mysterious fog, a seemingly archaic mystery and all the terrors of small-town living, then Widow’s Bay is absolutely going to be for you!

Widow’s Bay is streaming on Apple TV+ right now