15 TV Shows Like Widow Bay You Should Watch Next
I’m a sucker for creepy towns full of secrets and dark goings-on, whether it’s Twin Peaks , Hawkins ( of Stranger Things fame), or Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove, the Maine fishing village from Murder, She Wrote with its alarmingly high mortality rate. The latest addition to this list of unfortunate vacation spots is Widow’s Cove, a secluded island in New England where the new Apple TV series of the same name unfolds.
At first glance, the town seems idyllic, but according to some locals, it seems to be “awakening” supernaturally. It’s unfortunate timing for Mayor Tom Loftis, a relatively new figure who hopes to transform the place into a picturesque tourist destination. After a few episodes, the series often proves genuinely funny, but also believably scary (think clowns in basements)—and if you’re looking to visit other terrifying locations between episodes, here are 15 creepy suggestions. Watch “Widow’s Creek” on Apple TV .
Shining Vale (2022–2023)
At the beginning of Shining Valley, we’re told that women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression, but also twice as likely to be possessed by a demon. And the symptoms are the same. Pat Phelps, played by Courteney Cox, isn’t quite sure what problem she’s facing when her extremely dysfunctional family moves to a large Victorian mansion in a tiny Connecticut town, hoping that leaving the big city will solve all their problems. As you might guess, it doesn’t, and more problems are added in the form of supernatural forces connected to the dark events that occurred in the house. Shining Valley deals frankly with women and mental illness, but like Widows’ Bay , it also approaches its ghostly threats with a sense of humor. Watch Shining Valley on HBO Max.
Suburbs (2026 – )
There’s nothing overtly supernatural, but the show’s core idea is that suburbia is so insular and creepy, especially if you’re not a local, that it feels entirely believable. In this funny and loosely based adaptation of the 1989 film starring Tom Hanks, Samira (Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall) return to their incredibly safe and tidy hometown. Their house is across the street from a dilapidated Victorian building that may have been the scene of a murder decades earlier. As Samira adjusts to motherhood and life in a cul-de-sac, she discovers that even the nicest neighbors (played by Julia Duffy, Paula Pell, Mark Proksch, and Kapil Talwalkar) have secrets, and she begins to suspect that her husband knows more about the dead girl than he’s letting on. Watch “Suburgatory” on Peacock .
Day Three (2020)
In this strange and ambitious take on folk horror, Sam (Jude Law) arrives on the island of Osea mourning his murdered son and trying to save his failing business. After he intervenes when he sees a young woman attempting to hang herself, Sam finds himself drawn into the town’s incredibly eerie atmosphere. Later, Helen (Naomie Harris) arrives on the island with her daughters to find everything in ruins, and the causeway connecting the island to the mainland has disappeared. Between the two parts of the miniseries, the creators released a gripping 12-hour broadcast, shot with a single camera , capturing a single day in the life of the island, and it’s incredibly innovative. Granted, it’s more about atmosphere than plot, but the atmosphere is truly unsettling. Watch “The Third Day” on HBO Max.
Obituary (2023 – )
Traveling to rural Ireland, we meet Elvira Clancy (Siobhan Cullen), a freelance obituary writer and former goth with financial problems. The job pays well, but in the tiny (fictional) town of Kilraven, deaths are few and far between —but she accidentally finds a way to increase the body count when she accidentally pushes some idiot off a cliff. It’s the darkest of dark comedies, with Elvira looking more like a grown-up Wednesday Addams than a serial killer. Watch “Obituary” on Hulu.
Haven (2010–2015)
The series Haven (based on Stephen King’s short story “The Colorado Boy”) is lighthearted at times, not overtly comedic, yet it perfectly captures the “strange things happening in a remote town” vibe. Emily Rose plays Audrey Parker, an FBI special agent sent to the Maine town of the same name on a routine case. She soon becomes embroiled in “The Troubles”—a series of dangerous supernatural events that have recurred throughout the town’s history and, not coincidentally, are occurring again. The “supernatural case of the week” format gives way to a larger mystery when Audrey discovers that this isn’t her first visit to Haven, nor the first time she’s encountered “The Troubles. ” Watch Haven on Peacock and Prime Video .
Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017)
Widow’s Creek will have its work cut out for it if it wants to compete with the town (and its eccentric residents) at the center of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s groundbreaking work, in which teenagers and adults in the deceptively quiet Twin Peaks face tragedy accompanied by supernatural threats from beyond our ordinary space and time. Seems so? The mysteries here are designed less to be solved than to be pondered, with a touch of murky existential dread (and if that’s not your idea of entertainment, I’m not sure what you’re doing here). Kyle MacLachlan plays FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, who arrives in town to investigate the murder of prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and uncovers secrets and mysteries among the town’s delightfully (often disturbingly) odd inhabitants. Watch Twin Peaks on Paramount+ .
It: Welcome to Derry (2025 – )
Stephen King’s best technique is situating horror in seemingly idyllic small towns. Set in the 1960s, the prequel ” It ” tells the backstory of Derry and the clown Pennywise through the eyes of the children who encountered him during his previous visit to town. By the end of the first episode, it becomes clear that even the most charming children aren’t safe, and this show is going to be gritty, to say the least. It’s nowhere near the tone of “Widow’s Creek,” but given that “Widow’s Creek” already featured a creepy ’60s ghost clown as one of its supernatural scares, there are some similarities if you’re a particular kind of freak. Watch “It: Welcome to Derry” on HBO Max .
True Detective: Night Country (2024)
There’s a complete inconsistency in tone here, as Night Country takes itself far more seriously than Widows Bay . Still, this final season of True Detective is one of the best shows in recent years, dealing with eerie events in an isolated location. It abandons the sweaty, “manly” atmosphere of previous seasons in favor of a colder mystery involving missing scientists at a research station near a tiny and inevitably remote Alaskan town, where darkness and cold are practically characters in themselves. The resulting investigation connects veteran police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Private Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reyes), two women with complicated pasts and tangled family lives in the present. Watch True Detective: Night Country on HBO Max .
Gravity Falls (2012–2016)
This beloved animated series follows twin siblings Mabel and Dipper Pines (Kristen Schaal and Jason Ritter), who are sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle (aka “Uncle”) Stan (voiced by series creator Alex Hirsch). While helping Stan manage his mystical-themed vacation home, the kids encounter a number of supernatural mysteries, many of which are connected to the show’s main antagonist, a dream demon known as Bill Cipher. The series recently concluded (albeit after four years, not ten), and its finale was a ratings hit—in fact, it was the highest-rated episode in Disney XD history. Watch Gravity Falls on Disney+ .
Bodkin (2024)
Bodkin takes us to a quaint Irish coastal town, where a dark comedy-thriller unfolds that parodies crime dramas in much the same way Widow’s Bay satirizes supernatural plots. Will Forte plays Gilbert Power, an American podcaster investigating a long-running case involving three people who went missing during the Samhain festival three decades ago. While it’s certainly a satire of the genre, the series nonetheless has a compelling mystery at its core.Watch Bodkin on Netflix .
Deadlock (2023 – )
This Australian film, a blend of a twisted crime drama and brilliant genre satire, tells the story of Dulcie Collins (Kate Box), a meticulous police sergeant in the fictional town of Dedlock. When a body is discovered on the beach, Dulcie is joined by Eddie Radcliffe (Madeleine Sami), a gruff and generally unpleasant detective who is brought in to investigate. Their unraveling of a web of secrets in the tiny Tasmanian town is gripping, and as a bonus, the film mercilessly mocks police thriller clichés throughout. Watch Dedlock on Prime Video .
Stan vs. Evil (2016–2018)
Inspired by the film “Evil Dead,” “Stan Against Evil ” tells the story of a grumpy and obnoxious former sheriff of the tiny New Hampshire town of Willard’s Mill, haunted by vengeful spirits. Janet Varney arrives to replace him, and they soon realize the demons aren’t going to remain silent for long. The awkward chemistry between the leads is one of the film’s greatest strengths, as are the classic monster special effects. Watch “Stan Against Evil” on AMC+ and Shudder.
From 2022 to present.
Like the residents of Widow’s Cove , the characters in “Is” are literally trapped . But at least in this Apple series, the setting has a name; in ” Is, ” it’s simply set in The City, and once you set foot there, you can never leave. Oh, and did I mention that creatures come out of the woods and kill anyone who finds themselves outside after dark? Doesn’t sound so bad compared to the town I grew up in, but still: unsettling. Watch ” Is” on MGM+ .
Midnight Mass (2021)
If this isn’t Mike Flanagan’s best work on Netflix, it’s certainly his most emotionally devastating. Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) returns to the tiny, isolated community of Crockett Island, and his arrival coincides with that of Catholic priest Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater). Riley struggles with his justifiable guilt over the drunk-driving death he’s responsible for, while the charismatic priest reignites the town’s once-waning religious fervor while simultaneously escalating local tensions. The brewing conflict, exploring the boundaries of faith and guilt, is captivating, and the horrific elements that tie into it are terrifying.Watch Midnight Mass on Netflix .
And Then There Were None (2015)
The premise may sound familiar, but only because this gritty, brutal miniseries is based on the Agatha Christie novels that give it its name: eight strangers arrive on the fictional, utterly isolated Soldier’s Island off the coast of Devon. They are brought together under various pretexts, and over a tense dinner, they are shown a gramophone recording explaining that each of them is responsible for a death, and that each will face justice in turn. Watch And Then There Were None on Acorn TV .