Widow’s Bay Builds a History with Horror

I’m a little obsessed with Widow's Bay. It’s a horror-comedy series on Apple TV set on a fictional island off the coast of Massachusetts. The island isn’t as famous as Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket -- for good reason. Widow's Bay is cursed by a demonic entity. The show is nominated for 19 Emmy Awards, including Best Comedy, and I talked with their Emmy nominated production designer, Steve Arnold. We discuss the careful worldbuilding needed to blend horror and comedy, real and fake history, and subtle references to Jaws, The Fog, Halloween, The Shining, Carrie, and other works by Stephen King. We also look at why some of the props on the show became viral hits, like a set of creepy fake board games.

We also have an update on our 2022 episode "Monsters in the Static: Why Gen Z Is Afraid of Analog Horror." I talk with digital folklore expert Diane A. Rodgers about why the web series Backrooms became a blockbuster film that resonated with younger fans this summer. The full version of my interview with Diane can be heard on our Patreon show, Between Imaginary Worlds.

This episode is sponsored by Monarch. Use the code IMAGINARY at Monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just $50.  

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