Widow’s Peak is rich and wonderful. Grownup, funny, scary, true – Mare of Easttown meets Schitt’s Creek, but with something else that makes it singular.

That awkward, comedic, and suspenseful tension may be a lot to get through, but it's designed to ensure we get the most we can from the horror genre. At this point, it can hardly be denied that Apple TV has mastered a rare sort of art.

As soon as the series confirms the haunt is real (and spook-tacular), it kicks off a stellar run of episodes that expand the town lore and sharpen its characters in rapid, imaginative succession.

This darkly amusing mystery is a freaky, funny watch.

“Widow’s Bay” reaches deep into that bag of tropes, but it’s all part of the game; familiarity breeds anticipation, which breeds fear. .... Many of its characters are exaggerated in a way that can pass for comical, until the horror just elbows them out of the way in its very effective, storm-tossed final acts.

At first, you might not be so sure that you've chosen the right travel destination, but Widow's Bay becomes a haunting, deeply rewarding, and oddly charming series if you stick with it.

The failure to flesh out the population of Widow’s Bay beyond a handful of characters doesn’t just undermine its sense of place. It deprives the show of something every good horror story needs: victims. Although the season grows eerier as Tom discovers more of the island’s dreadful backstory, it’s rare that anything terrible happens to anyone we truly care about.