Apple TV’s New Horror Show Is Bringing A Hollywood Genre Back From The Dead

Apple TV’s upcoming series, Widow’s Bay, is looking to bring the comedy back to horror. Apple TV has officially made the flip from striving streamer to prestige platform in 2025 with some fantastic original shows like Pluribus, Chief of War, Severance season 2, and more critically acclaimed series.

No longer is Apple TV the place for series to sputter and end with little cultural relevance. It’s been steadily increasing in quality over the last couple of years, and now, if a show premieres on it, you can usually bet it’s going to be worthwhile. So there are some high expectations for Widow’s Bay.

Widow’s Bay Is An Apple TV Horror Comedy Starring Matthew Rhys

Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) sitting at a table in Apple TV Widow's Bay — Matthew Rhys in Apple TV Widow’s Bay

Widow’s Bay is a horror-comedy series set to premiere on Apple TV on April 29, 2026. The 10-episode series will star Matthew Rhys, of The Beast in Me and Perry Mason fame, as Tom Loftis, the mayor of a New England town who refuses to heed the superstitious residents of the town when they warn him it’s cursed.

Tom wants to rehabilitate the struggling island town, which doesn’t even have Wi-Fi in some spots. The new mayor desires to turn the town into a hotspot tourist destination, both to give his teenage son a better life and improve the town he’s responsible for. The issue isn’t making the town more desirable; it’s the curse that rises after.

Joining Rhys in the show that’s been described as blending “genuine horror with character-driven comedy” is Stephen Root of Barry, Kate O’Flynn of My Lady Jane, Kingston Rumi Southwick of Presumed Innocent, Kingston Rumi Southwick of The Leftovers, and Dale Dickey of Vice Principals (via GoodHousekeeping).

Horror Comedy TV Shows Have Been In A Lull After A Few Strong Years

The What We Do in the Shadows cast all together one last time in the finale

It’s about time we got a good horror comedy TV show. For a while, we were getting horror comedy shows at a pretty steady clip. What We Do in the Shadows, Santa Clarita Diet, Ash vs Evil Dead, Ghosts (both versions), and Los Espookys provided excellent viewing, tight comedy, and excellent horror tropes.

For the last couple of years, however, we have not had as many in the genre. To be sure, there have been a lot of horror TV shows, but horror comedy is a critical part of the genre, and for a moment, it seemed dead. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but comedy is tightly linked to horror.

The things that make us laugh and the things that make us scream are often only a few degrees separated from one another. Shows like Widow’s Bay are a great sign for the health of the horror genre, because it takes an appreciation of horror to find the humor in it.