If you value your sleep, do not watch Apple TV’s latest horror series

It’s been a good few years since I’ve had to cover my eyes because I was too afraid to watch something.

It’s a rather humbling, if not humiliating, thing to admit – especially as a fully grown man (even though there’s nothing wrong with anyone admitting they were frightened).

But after watching Apple TV’s latest series, I’m not ashamed to say that I was not only covering my eyes – I was also checking the hallway outside of my door for ghosts in the middle of the night.

Created by Katie Dippold and directed by The Bear and Atlanta’s Hiro Murai, this 10-part genre-bending comedy-horror sees town mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) attempt to revive his struggling community.

Set on an island just off the coast of New York, Tom clashes with a group of superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed.

However, as tourists begin to flock to this destination, not everything is as it seems… and very scary things start to happen.

After first being introduced to Rhys’ character, Tom, and the creepy Widow’s Bay island, I found myself half-rolling my eyes at the corny folk tales about ghostly spirits.

Here this series was, I thought, showing its hand far too early and cornering itself off as a spooky sort of haunted mermaid borefest.

However, after the show’s slow start in the first episode (stick with it, trust me), Widow’s Bay provides one of the most multi-faceted and entertaining horror series I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

In terms of world-building and character development alone, this series would work perfectly well as a comedic sitcom about a mayor trying to improve tourism in his town, while dealing with his goofy set of loner colleagues.

Every character, except perhaps Wyck – played by Dodgeball’s Stephen Root – who feels slightly like a caricature, is perfectly written and spouts out witty one-liners.

Meanwhile, there’s still the right amount of intrigue and mystery hanging over their heads.

Taking things a step further, this series still has room to strike an emotional chord and make me care about its characters.

From Tom’s heartfelt backstory, played by a fantastic Rhys (who is not quite as good as he was in The Beast In Me), to the social alienation Kate O’Flynn’s character Patricia experiences, the story could work on these plot points alone.

But if this series wasn’t greedy enough already, there is a level of understated, heart-palpitating horror that even now, writing this review, I have checked my shoulder a few times to see if ‘The Sea Hag’ is behind me.

Once you’ve watched, you’ll understand.

Whether it was Tom’s experience staying a night in the haunted room of a hotel or Patricia’s truly disturbing party, I was not mentally prepared for how scared I would be watching this.

Lots of TV series and movies can execute horror and jump scares well, but the ones that can disarm you with humour or a dramatic plotline, as Widow’s Bay does, are the ones that truly terrify you right to your very core.

It’s almost as if the show’s creators have revealed how the magic trick works, and we know something is amiss… but every time, like a revolving door, I walk straight back into an unexpected scare.

As somebody who is not exactly a horror enthusiast, Widow’s Bay really caught me off guard by how much I enjoyed it.

If you value your sleep, you might want to give this thriller a miss – but I’d implore you to still give it a go. There aren’t many shows out there today that deliver on their promises, and Widow’s Bay is one of them.

Widow’s Bay uses a format that’s been done hundreds of times before, while mashing up a cocktail of horror and humour that goes down a treat.

Widow’s Bay will be available to watch on April 29 on Apple TV.

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