Widow's Bay: Apple TV's Stephen King-Inspired Horror Comedy Series Premieres April 2026

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Stephen King stops by 'Good Morning America' to talk about his new book 'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams' in New York City.

Published Feb 5, 2026, 4:00 PM EST

Zach Moser is a Philadelphia native who loves films, television, books, and any and all media he can get his hands on. Zach has had articles published on satirical sites such as Points In Case, Slackjaw, and McSweeney's.

Widow's Bay is coming to Apple TV in April 2026, and it's making up for a severe lack of Stephen King-related productions this year. On April 29, 2026, Widow's Bay will premiere on Apple TV. The six-episode comedy horror series stars Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftis, a skeptical mayor of a New England town.

When locals begin coming to him with superstitious warnings, Tom ignores them. Kate O'Flynn, Stephen Root, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick, and Kevin Carroll are also set to appear. It's a story that sounds like it could have come from Stephen King, and fans might have to pretend it did in 2026.

Apple TV's Widow's Bay Was Inspired By Stephen King

Matthew Rhys as Mayor Tom Loftis clutching a book and looking nervous in Widow's Bay.

If the plot of Widow's Bay sounds like a Stephen King story, it's probably because creator and showrunner Katie Dippold is happy to admit how much the prolific horror author inspired the show. In an interview with Polygon, Dippold pointed to Stephen King as one of her influences when writing the series.

She also noted Donald Glover's Atlanta, Jaws, and An American Werewolf in London as other inspirations for the show. The plot is certainly Stephen King-esque. King loves his small town stories, and they don't get much smaller than ones set within little island towns.

King also loves to write stories about troubled protagonists trying to do good work who are forced to face some kind of evil. Often, there's no reason why someone is in this situation, and Tom Loftis could be similarly frustrated and frightened, unable to understand why his efforts to help a town are being hindered by an evil presence.

Widow's Bay Can Make Up For The Lack Of Stephen King Adaptations In 2026

Matthew Rhys as Mayor Tom Loftis looking upset in Widow's Bay.

Fans of Stephen King are going to be disappointed with the offerings in 2026. In 2025, we had three movie adaptations, The Monkey, The Long Walk, and The Running Man. On television, we had The Institute and It: Welcome to Derry. We didn't know how good we had it.

In 2026, there are only two Stephen King adaptations on the docket, The Institute season 2 and the miniseries Carrie coming to Amazon Prime Video. You can usually count on a few Stephen King adaptations every year, the author's bibliography is so expansive, but not this year.

Widow's Bay is in no way associated with Stephen King, but in a year with so few King-related TV shows and movies, horror fans may have to consider his influence on Dippold's story in order to get their fill. Call Widow's Bay a des-King-nated hitter.