Is “Widow’s Bay” a real place? Where you can find the real-life harbors and dive bars of Apple’s spooky comedy

Key Points

• Widow’s Bay is a horror-comedy on Apple TV about a haunted (and cash-strapped) island community.

• Matthew Rhys leads the cast as Widow’s Bay’s desperate mayor, Tom Loftis.

• Widow’s Bay is not a real place, but it was filmed in and around several Massachusetts cities.

On the Apple TV series Widow’s Bay, Matthew Rhys plays Tom Loftis, the mayor of the eponymous New England island town. The ambitious mayor is eager to turn Widow’s Bay into the “next Martha’s Vineyard” to inject some tourism dollars into the local economy. There’s just one problem: According to the superstitious locals, the town is extremely cursed, as evidenced by its comically prolific history of violence, death, and unexplained supernatural phenomena.

Despite all the spooky stuff, Widow’s Bay is stunning. It’s the stuff dreams (of moving to New England and starting an anonymous life) are made of. Sure, there’s sea hags and killer clowns, but Widow’s Bay (the series) makes Widow’s Bay (the place) look absolutely idyllic. Naturally, the scenic setting has viewers wondering if the island is real, and whether they can visit.

Below is everything we know about where Widow’s Bay is filmed — and if you can visit it.

Is Widow’s Bay a real place?

Unfortunately, Widow’s Bay is not a real place. Created by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation), Widow’s Bay is set in a fictional island town off the coast of New England — where, exactly, is intentionally left unclear.

“It’s a long ferry ride, you don’t know exactly if the ferry comes from Massachusetts or Maine, but I purposely wanted to keep that a little vague,” Dippold told The Boston Globe in April.

Widow’s Bay is inspired by classic horror films, the novels of Stephen King (whose books are set in his native Maine), and the inherent history of New England. “You immediately have this kind of mythical mysticism surrounding it,” Rhys said of filming in the area. “That New England history so perfectly lent to this piece.”

Though the island town isn’t real, many of its locations are. The series was primarily filmed in the Massachusetts towns of Worcester, Rockport, and Gloucester — so while you can’t visit Widow’s Bay specifically, you can still visit the places where it was filmed and get the New England vibe that inspired Dippold to create the series.

Worcester, Mass.

Widow’s Bay was partially filmed in the town of Worcester, west of Boston. In 2025, the city’s Telegram & Gazette reported that an Apple TV crew was filming at local dive Vincent’s Bar, which appears to have been used as a stand-in for the series’ Barnabus Tavern.

One of the primary locations in the series is the town hall where Mayor Loftis works alongside his eccentric colleagues. Multiple outlets point to the town hall in Berlin, MA for exterior shots, while Telegram & Gazette reported that the crew also filmed at the Shirley Center Town Hall to the northeast of Worcester.

Rockport, Mass.

Widow’s Bay filmed quite a bit around Rockport, particularly in the Bearskin Neck peninsula, as reported by WBZ NewsRadio. The town’s harbor is featured prominently in the series, and previously served as a filming location for the Oscar-winning drama CODA (2021).

A vacant building in Rockport that once housed an art gallery was used for the fictional town’s local restaurant The Salty Whale.

Gloucester, Mass.

Northshore reported that the series also used locations around Gloucester and Cape Ann. A local artist snapped some photos of the production at Good Harbor Beach, while another resident pointed out that the beach scenes were filmed at Half Moon Beach.

Additional locations include restaurant Vita Bella Ristorante and Lane’s Cove.

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