There’s a little island 52 miles off the coast of New England filled with seascape beauty and colorful history. It’s also bedeviled with ghosts.

This little fictional hamlet is called Widows Bay and its story, featuring a perpetually exasperated mayor and comically eccentric townsfolk, is the latest serial offering from Apple TV. Entertaining and chuckle-worthy interspersed with truly scary moments, it’s a big win for fans of comedy-horror.

Matthew Rhys (last seen in Netflix’s The Beast In Me) plays Tom Loftis, a widower and single father to his errant teen son. He’s trying to put little, remote Widow’s Bay on the map and boost the tourism but he’s hampered by a pesky, haunted fog that has rolled in, bringing with it a panoply of malicious spirits.

The superstitious citizens try to warn him, but he’s a non-believer and having none of it, until he accepts a dare to spend the night in the resident haunted hotel. His terrifying encounter in the Widow’s Bay Inn is beyond chilling, but Tom decides to plow ahead with his plan to woo the tourists, ghosts be damned. 

Enter a freaky spirit in the form of a grotesque old woman who likes to scratch her victims, a church bell that has been disabled and yet mysteriously tolls for certain ears and some seriously creepy, 1970’s historical videos about the island, and you’ve got a recipe for spine tingling moments infused with hearty laughter. 

The show was created by Katie Dippold, who wrote several episodes of Parks and Rec as well as the screenplay for The Heat. Her sharp, wry humor shines through in every episode. She’s a seriously funny gal; check out her Instagram. Her goal in running the series she said in an interview, was to make people feel scared while they’re having a good time. 

Mission accomplished. It’s a worthy watch.