“There’s clear love for the horror genre in the show, but what I really liked about how we approached it is that we weren’t trying to make it too referential,” director Hiro Murai says. “I think we tried to tell the story as straight as possible in a weird way. Even though these ludicrous situations would happen — there’s a boogeyman trying to kill somebody with a knife — what would that feel like if you just saw it walking down the street? We tried to ground it as much as possible in the execution.”
There are plenty of visual cues that connect Widow’s Bay to the long history of horror properties that have come before it, but for Dippold, it was important to keep the show’s human stories at the forefront.
“I think we tried to show some restraint,” she says. “I love all the horror things in the world. I want to put them all in all the time, but by not doing too much of it, you’re focusing on the characters. The fun thing about a boogeyman coming is watching [someone] deal with it, you know?”
While the show’s titular town more than lives up to its spooky supernatural reputation, Widow’s Bay is more than just the things that go bump in the night. Its assortment of colorful, quirky residents is truly the show’s secret weapon, most notably the central trio of oblivious mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), his insecure assistant Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), and local town weirdo, Wyck (Stephen Root), a man who knows entirely too much about the island’s haunted history. The relationships that ultimately develop among the three of them — and their individual connections to the town in which they live— form the emotional center of Widow’s Bay.
“The dynamics between the characters are really important,” Kate O’Flynn says. “Tom’s relationship with Patricia is a funny one because I think they’re a little bit codependent. She likes having this friend, who’s the mayor, and she’s by his side all the time. Matthew and I once talked about how, God forbid, he ever forgot Patricia’s birthday. His life would be over. He couldn’t go to work for weeks because he [would] know she’s just waiting to be furious. For him, she’s someone that he can rant to. She’s all ears. She’ll listen. Always.”
Tom has his own complicated feelings about Widow’s Bay and many of its various residents, but his desire to serve the larger community is a genuine one, even if he can sometimes struggle to show it.