By Matt Juul , Globe Staff | Boston Globe |April 27, 2026

Tall tales about ghosts, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night have long been woven into the fabric of local lore, and “Widow’s Bay” is tapping into that history to tell a distinctly New England story.

Premiering Wednesday on Apple TV, the new comedy horror series stars Emmy winner Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”), also an executive producer on the show, as Tom Loftis, a Bay State native and mayor of the sleepy, fictional island of Widow’s Bay. Despite its idyllic appearance, the town is harboring a laundry list of supernatural secrets. Loftis wants to turn this Wi-Fi-less relic of the past into a modern vacation getaway like Bar Harbor or Martha’s Vineyard, but his constituents, who are mainly lifelong locals, aren’t exactly on board with the plan, especially since the mayor (at least initially) doesn’t buy into their otherworldly superstitions.

Rhys credits “Widow’s Bay” creator, showrunner, and executive producer Katie Dippold for the “shrewd move” of setting the series in New England, noting how the region comes with so much history and folklore.

“You immediately have this kind of mythical mysticism surrounding it,” Rhys told the Globe in a Zoom interview last week. “That New England history so perfectly lent to this piece.”

“Once we shot there, it just enriched it tenfold,” he added.

Although it was filmed across several Massachusetts destinations, including Worcester, Rockport, and Gloucester, “Widow’s Bay” doesn’t reveal exactly where in New England the titular island is located, which “was very much on purpose,” according to Dippold.

“It’s a long ferry ride, you don’t know exactly if the ferry comes from Massachusetts or Maine, but I purposely wanted to keep that a little vague,” said Dippold, explaining that her goal was “more tapping into the New England vibe.”

Stephen Root (“Office Space”), who plays Wyck, a salty townie who butts heads with Rhys’s Loftis for not taking the emerging supernatural threats seriously, called the Bay State filming locations “gorgeous,” revealing that he and Rhys spent a lot of time indulging in seafood fare (“It was all about oysters,” joked Root). Meanwhile, for Rhys, not only did the Massachusetts setting provide a beautiful backdrop, but it also made it easier for the “Widow’s Bay” team to immerse themselves into the story, since the region’s deep historical roots are always front and center.

“Places like Gloucester and Rockport, for me, just gave you that essence for free,” said Rhys. “You don’t have to suspend any imagination. It’s all in front of you.”

Despite growing up in New Jersey, Dippold admits that she “always dreamed of New England,” and has long been obsessed with the region since it “looks so cozy and magical.” For “Widow’s Bay,” Dippold was partly inspired by the works of Stephen King, as well as a past visit to the North Shore.

“I really wanted to tap into that Stephen King atmosphere,” said Dippold. “And then also, a couple years ago, I went to this diner in Marblehead, Mass. It’s called the Driftwood, and it was just everything you could possibly want.”

“It was off the sea. There’s just big coffee mugs with old stains and locals in flannel shirts talking about the day,” she added. “It was very cozy and very lived in, and I just never wanted to leave. It was out of a Stephen King book.”

“The initial spec was pretty joke-heavy, and I think it was a good spec for my sense of humor, and so I think I got the job off of that,” said Dippold, explaining that the story for “Widow’s Bay” has evolved since then, comparing it to an author revisiting and revising their novel over time. “I just kept building out this world… and it just became something a little bit more real and grounded and more focused on the tension and the character story and the stakes.”

While mayor Loftis isn’t exactly a wide-eyed optimist like Pawnee’s Leslie Knope, he does have a lot of love for the folks of Widow’s Bay, where he’s raising his teen son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), even if the residents often frustrate him.

“He ultimately wants his son to be raised in a thriving community that could offer him opportunities,” said Rhys. “He wants that [not] only for his son, but also for everyone on the island. He wants it to succeed.”

For Root, his character “was attractive to play” due to Wyck’s conflict with the mayor, as they both want to see Widow’s Bay thrive, but have vastly different ideas about what it means to keep the island safe.

“[Wyck is] trying to protect the town, and he knows that it’s not a wonderful idea for lots and lots of people to come here,” said Root. “He has seen and researched for many years… the strange things that go on the island.”

“While [the mayor is] trying to do a nice thing, I’m trying to do a protective thing,” he added, noting that Wyck and Loftis eventually “come to an understanding later on in the season.”

Root praises the show’s scripts as “brilliant” for their ability to balance humor and horror, with costar Kate O’Flynn (“My Lady Jane”) noting the impact of all the top-tier filmmakers behind the camera, including director and executive producer Hiro Murai (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”).

“We were just guided by these brilliant directors,” said O’Flynn, who plays Patricia, the mayor’s assistant. “They all had great eye, great taste.”

And while the humor was often grounded in the “very real situations” unfolding in the story, according to Rhys, the Bay State filming locations also helped to bring the laughs when needed.

“There’s certainly a grittiness and saltiness that’s just intrinsic in Massachusetts that lent itself to those more humorous moments, without question,” said Rhys. “So that was a beautiful added bonus.”

“Widow’s Bay” premieres Wednesday on Apple TV.