"Widow's Bay"
Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn get haunted in “Widow’s Bay,” from Apple TV

"Widow's Bay"

It’s twice as long as it should be, but this spooky Apple series about a curse in a small New England island town sure knows how to combine mirth and menace.

By Peter Travers

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★★★½ (3½ out of 4)

Before it starts repeating itself (a plague on series TV), Apple’s 10-episode “Widow’s Peak” is one perverse pleasure, a mash-up of hilarity and horror that shouldn’t work. Surprise! It most definitely, dazzlingly, dementedly does. “It felt like we’re just kind of like hanging onto two sled dogs at the same time,” says series creator Katie Dippold, who did acclaimed comic duty as a writer on “Madtv” and “Parks and Recreation.” Add in director Hiro Murai (“Atlanta,” “Barry, “The Bear”), who called the shots on half the episodes, and “Widow’s Bay” comes in hot and ready to play.