Television series

Widow's Bay

A cursed New England island, a mayor who'd rather lose the town than admit it's haunted, and a cast of character actors clearly having a blast with the material. This leans more sly-and-slow-burn than jump-scare, mining small-town denial and municipal cowardice for laughs while something genuinely uncanny simmers underneath. Good for people who want their horror seasoned with civic satire and a lot of side-eye.

TVMaze rating7.5

If you liked this

Resident Alien2021

A small town, a skeptical authority figure, and something inhuman hiding in plain sight — the same comic engine of denial-versus-truth, played with genuine warmth and a killer lead performance.

But Alan Tudyk's alien-in-a-human-suit shtick is broad and can wear thin if you want your horror-comedy drier.

Resident Alien poster

What We Do in the Shadows2019

Peak modern horror-comedy: deadpan, ensemble-driven, endlessly quotable, and unafraid to let its monsters be pathetic, petty, and very funny.

But Mockumentary format and vampire-house setting are a different flavor from Widow's Bay's civic-dread small-town vibe.

What We Do in the Shadows poster

Ghosts2021

Gentle, character-first supernatural comedy about people (living and dead) forced to coexist with the uncanny — cozy where Widow's Bay is bay-water cold.

But It's warmer and lower-stakes; if you want dread with your comedy, this may feel too soft.

Ghosts poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Arsenic and Old Lace1944

Same structural joke as Widow's Bay: a community's polite denial as the engine of horror-comedy, just with poison instead of a curse.

A screwball classic about a nice town full of nice people quietly harboring something monstrous behind a respectable front door — pure comic dread, decades before your streaming service existed.

But Stagey, fast-talking 1940s pacing and no supernatural element at all — it's murder, not curses.

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
More like this (8)

Santa Clarita Diet2017

Suburban horror-comedy with a similar willingness to let ordinary people behave monstrously while everyone around them insists on normalcy.

But Gorier and broader than Widow's Bay's simmering small-town paranoia; it goes for splatter, not slow dread.

Santa Clarita Diet poster

Stranger Things2016

A New England-adjacent town sitting on top of something it refuses to name, with institutional denial as a recurring theme — same bones, glossier budget.

But Much bigger in scope and stakes; the coziness curdles into full sci-fi spectacle rather than staying local and strange.

Stranger Things poster

Beetlejuice1988

The granddaddy of tonal whiplash horror-comedy — genuinely creepy, genuinely silly, and never letting one undercut the other.

But It's a single 90-minute burst of chaos rather than a slow-simmering serialized mystery.

Beetlejuice poster

Eerie, Indiana1991no page yet

A short-lived cult classic about a town where the weird is just Tuesday — kid's-eye-view version of Widow's Bay's civic-supernatural denial.

But Dated, kid-focused, and only ran one season; charming rather than gripping.

Slither2006

Small-town monster comedy with real practical-effects nastiness and a mayor-adjacent authority figure making terrible decisions under pressure.

But Much grosser and more overtly B-movie than Widow's Bay's drier, more literary tone.

Slither poster

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil2010

A comedy that runs entirely on a town's willful, hilarious misreading of the people right in front of it — misplaced belief as the whole joke.

But Broader slapstick and gorier than Widow's Bay; it's a one-premise farce, not a slow-burn ensemble.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil poster

Wild Wild Country2018

Strip out the comedy and the curse and you get Widow's Bay's actual premise happening in real life: leadership choosing denial over inconvenient truth, and a town paying for it.

A jaw-dropping true-crime documentary about a small American town whose leadership refused to believe — or admit — what was happening right under their noses until it was catastrophic.

But It's a real documentary with real consequences, tonally serious and occasionally disturbing; nothing here is played for laughs.

Wild Wild Country poster

The Wicker Man1973

Same setup — cursed island, disbelieving authority figure, communal secret — played completely straight, showing you the folk-horror nerve Widow's Bay is comedically defusing.

An isolated island community, a skeptical outsider, and folk belief that turns out to be terrifyingly sincere — the serious, unsettling ancestor of Widow's Bay's premise.

But There's no joke here at all — it's slow, eerie, and ends in genuine dread rather than a punchline.

The Wicker Man poster

People

Cast

Writing

Production