With 14 awards out of 19 nominations, Widow’s Bay was the true standout of the 2026 Emmy Awards ceremony. The Apple TV+ horror-comedy, recently renewed for a second season, was named Best Comedy Series, for the leading performance of Matthew Rhys and the supporting turns of Kate O’Flynn and Stephen Root, as well as for the directing by Hiro Murai and the writing by Katie Dippold, and in numerous technical categories.
Set on a New England island plagued by mysterious presences, Widow’s Bay offers locations begging to be explored, some of which will sound familiar to lovers of scary tales.
What it’s about
Tom Lofits (Matthew Rhys) is the mayor of a remote New England island: despite the more than forty miles separating it from the mainland, an almost non-existent Wi‑Fi signal and countless other inconveniences that the locals know well, his plan is to turn it into an exclusive tourist destination. The plan fails to account, above all, for a series of local legends claiming the island is haunted by mysterious presences and paranormal events. The arrival of a New York Times reporter, hired by the mayor to produce a promotional feature, triggers a chilling escalation of these phenomena that the townspeople had considered entirely predictable.
Where the series was filmed
Speaking about Widow’s Bay’s locations, the first question that might come to mind is whether the “Widow’s Island” really exists. The series’ showrunner, Katie Dippold, told People that she did indeed shoot some scenes on a New England island, though the identity was deliberately kept secret. The only information available is that it is an island reachable after a fair ferry crossing, though it isn’t stated whether the departure point is from Maine or Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts — as several online sources confirm — many scenes from the Emmy-winning Apple TV series were shot in Gloucester, Rockport, Worcester and other towns.
Gloucester
The Widow’s Bay harbor, for instance, is Lane’s Cove: the picturesque port sheltered by Gloucester’s granite cliff. In the town, renowned for fishing and as a seaside destination, the production also shot near the Eastern Point Lighthouse — the lighthouse — and Half Moon Beach, a crescent-shaped coastal stretch famous precisely for its half-moon contour.
Cape Ann
In several frames of the series, the landscapes of Cape Ann are recognizable: the dramatic rocky promontory facing the Atlantic, which over time has inspired many American horror tales, also famous as a whale-watching spot.
Rockport
Many of Widow’s Bay’s locations are in Rockport. In this Massachusetts town where time seems to have stood still and you can still explore the American maritime tradition, the series was filmed mainly at Bearskin Neck: once a fishing village, today a district rich with art galleries, upscale shops and trendy eateries.
Other locations
Numerous public and private buildings scattered across various Massachusetts towns such as Harvard, Ayer, Maynard, Groton, Shirley, were repurposed to fit narrative needs.
The Widow’s Bay town hall, where many scenes featuring the newly minted Emmy winner Matthew Rhys were filmed, is the Berlin Town Hall: a late nineteenth-century building in a Greek-revival style, now used mainly for civic events.
The island’s church is the Martha-Mary Chapel in Sudbury: a chapel erected in the 1940s by industrialist Henry Ford in memory of his mother and mother-in-law, built entirely with timber from trees felled by the 1938 hurricane that struck New England.
The diner and the iconic American diners hold a place of honor among Widow’s Bay’s locations: speaking again with People, the screenwriter explained how these locales evoke for her an atmosphere worthy of Stephen King. Some of the key scenes of the Apple TV series, set inside the Barnabus Tavern, were shot at Vincent’s Bar in Worcester: a down-to-earth spot where one can experience the quintessential American dining moment while locals in flannel shirts chat about the day or other topics.
