Is Widow’s Bay a Real Town?

Apple TV’s new series Widow’s Bay has been delivering top-notch horror-comedy since its debut in April 2026. 

Set on a picturesque island off the coast of New England, the community of Widow’s Bay is full of superstitious townsfolk who believe the place is cursed. But the mayor, Tom Loftis, played by Matthew Rhys, is determined to dismiss the dark town lore in favour of attracting tourists—a plan that careens ever more off course as the fated tourists arrive and the creepy supernatural happenings begin again.

With such a compelling premise, coupled with the rugged beauty of the pebbled beaches and the lived-in, cosy aesthetic of the coastal New England town on full display, you might be wondering, is Widow’s Bay a real place?

The short answer is no. But there are a few choice filming locations in Massachusetts that you could visit if you’re keen to chomp down on a lobster roll at the Salty Whale without the looming prospect of fog-related death. So, let’s look into where Widow’s Bay was filmed, as well as some fictional towns that inspired the series.

Where Is Widow’s Bay?

Widow’s Bay is a fictional island about 40 miles off the coast of New England. The cluster of six states in the northeastern United States is known for being one of the oldest colonial settlements in the country, giving it a particular historic mystique that sets it apart from the rest. 

From its old wooden town halls to its coastal crags, the area's history (think Salem Witch Trials) and its cosy-to-creepy aesthetic pipeline have provided a particularly vivid backdrop for many a horror-mystery story.

Where Is Widow’s Bay Filmed?

Widow’s Bay was filmed completely in Massachusetts, mostly around the picturesque northern coast on the Cape Ann peninsula. Atlas of Wonders extensively details the Widow’s Bay filming locations, but here’s a quick rundown of the highlights:

The two main towns on the peninsula, Rockport and Gloucester, provides the setting for much of the downtown of Widow’s Bay, including the Salty Whale restaurant (an old art gallery on Bearskin Neck, Rockport), the harbour (Lane’s Cove, Gloucester), the beach (Half Moon Beach inside Stage Fort Park, Gloucester), and the lighthouse (Eastern Point Lighthouse, Gloucester).

Other Widow’s Bay filming locations stray further from the coast and include the Worcester bar Vincent’s (the Barnabas Tavern), the Lorenzo Maynard House in Maynard (the Widow’s Bay Inn), the Martha-Mary Chapel in Sudbury (the Widow’s Bay church), Johnson’s Restaurant and Dairy Bar in Groton (the Driftwood Diner) and the Berlin Town Hall (the Widow’s Bay Town Hall). A private house in Harvard was used for the Widow’s Bay Museum, as was a private residence in Ayer for Patricia’s house.

Widow’s Bay isn’t the only production to film in New England, and likely its mysterious vibe is helped along by the audience's association with the aesthetic through other films and series. Most famously, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (which series creator Katie Dippold listed as an inspiration) was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. 

Hocus Pocus also used the historic setting of Salem, MA, to great effect, and the 2024 adaptation of Stephen King's (another big inspiration of Dippold’s) novel Salem’s Lot was filmed around Stow, Ipswich, Clinton, and Sterling, MA.

Additionally, the Oscar-winning films CODA and Manchester-by-the-Sea were also filmed in and around Rockport and, of course, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Although they are not horror movies, the films capture the moody seaside drama that is also present in Widow’s Bay.

The Fictional Towns That Inspired Widow’s Bay

Before Widow’s Bay, creator Katie Dippold was best known as a writer on Parks & Recreation (Season 2–4). While promoting her new series, she discussed how the original idea for Widow’s Bay came from a sample she submitted for Parks & Rec, and once you know that, the parallels between Widow’s Bay and Pawnee, Indiana, become much clearer; both small towns feature a slew of locals led by a quirky mayor/deputy director determinedly promoting their village to outsiders.

Another undeniable inspiration is the fictional Amity Island, where a killer shark threw the summer season in coastal New England into chaos in Steven Spielberg's monumental classic Jaws. In an interview with Gizmodo, Dippold discussed how Jaws influenced the atmosphere she hoped to create in Widow’s Bay, saying “it was important for us to feel like [we weren’t doing] a parody of [Jaws] or doing it exactly—but just [feeling] the spirit of it”.

Dippold has discussed how Stephen King’s works inspired Widow’s Bay, and it’s easy to see connections between the cursed island and locations in King’s novels. Castle Rock appears in many of King’s books, providing the quintessential small town New England backdrop for stories like The Dead Zone, Cujo, and The Body (Stand By Me), and inspired Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason’s supernatural mystery series about the town itself, Castle Rock. 

The town of Derry also appears in several of King’s novels, most famously as the town plagued by the killer clown Pennywise in IT. Another obvious connection can be seen with the town of Salem’s Lot, which also has a dark history marred by supernatural occurrences.

Finally, there can be little doubt that a mystery series set in a quirky small town full of dark secrets would in some way be inspired by the mother of all such series, Twin Peaks. David Lynch’s seminal TV series fundamentally changed the way stories are told on television, and his masterful balancing of the wholesome elements of the town of Twin Peaks with its dark underbelly has inspired every series in the genre since.

What to Watch If You Love Widow’s Bay

If you’re loving Widow’s Bay and are keen to watch some similar television series, I’ve got a few suggestions for you.

Looking to dive more into the horror vibe of Widow’s Bay? Make sure to check out Midnight Mass, Shining Vale, IT: Welcome to Derry, and From.

If you like the more supernatural investigative side of Widow’s Bay, you might enjoy Twin Peaks, Haven, Bodkin, or The X-Files.

And finally, if you’re looking for a series that leans more into the cosy small-town comedy, check out Parks & Recreation.