Congratulations to WIDOW’S BAY! |

Congratulations to Widow’s Bay!

This AppleTV show just performed very well at the Primetime Emmy awards, which took place on Monday, 14 September 2026. See the results just below, and further down, my quick recap of the show and my spoiler-free (and very short) review.

Widow’s Bay was in the “Comedy” category at the Emmy Awards, despite also having scary elements. It is part horror, part comedy, part drama. It’s a wicked-great show, heavily inspired by John Carpenter, with quirky and eccentric characters, a great backstory, and layers of interesting plot threads. At the Emmy Awards, Widow’s Bay just received fourteen awards, including:

Outstanding Comedy Series

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series — Matthew Rhys (Mayor Tom Loftis)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy— Stephen Root (Wyck)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy — Kate O’Flynn (Patricia)

Guest Actress in a Comedy — Betty Gilpin (Sarah Westcott Warren)

Best Writing for a Comedy Series — Katie Dippold

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — Hiro Murai

Outstanding Music Supervision

Outstanding Production Design — Lodging

Outstanding Sound Mixing — What to Expect on Your Trip

Outstanding Music Composition — Our History

Outstanding Casting, Sound Editing, Cinematography

Widow’s Bay Premise and TSJ’S Review

I recapped the premise of this show and reviewed it earlier at Life After Gateway, where I wrote this:

Imagine the mayor from Jaws (“The beach is safe!”) leading a small island that also happens to be suffering from an ancient curse. The mayor wants to increase tourism. The locals, who suspect a curse since the island settlement’s founding, know better. It’s a hilarious setup, but there is so much more than what I’ve stated here. There’s fascinating backstory, some incredible history, a great setting filmed in real places in the US North East (Gloucester, Worcester, Rockport, Essex — all real Massachusetts locations on the Atlantic coast), quirky and eccentric characters, humour, and some real chills. It’s a horror/comedy that hits on all levels. The episodes hover around thirty to forty minutes, and each is unique and necessary to the story.

And in that post, my spoiler-free review was:

The story was exceptional, the twists and turns are interesting, and the show’s finale was unexpected … I can’t praise Widow’s Bay enough. Kudos to the writers and showrunners.

I also provided a list of Pros and Cons:

Pros

Tight, short eps of only thirty to forty minutes
An interesting backstory, revealed over the entire season
Quirky/eccentric characters
It’s scary but also funny; the dialogue and characters will keep you laughing
Moody and atmospheric (watch at night)
There are lots of threads to keep things moving
The cast is fantastic
The history/backstory is wonderful … I want to learn more, particularly about Wyck’s father, who apparently was a whaler

Cons

The show is so clearly influenced by Carpenter that I’d like to hear some distinctive dark synth music. The score was somewhat understated or subtle in Widow’s Bay. Others might think this is a positive though.
I found the final episode to be a bit slow, to be honest. Slightly anticlimactic, even though there were huge revelations.

Moving forward, I would love to see more backstory, more quirky characters, more history involving the church, and more explanation of what exactly is in those tunnels. In short — MORE of everything! The show has already been renewed for Season 2; filming starts early in the new year.

I’d also love to see NYT reporter Arthur Lloyd return (played by Bashir Salahuddin, from Top Gun: Maverick). I would love to see his reaction to what’s really going on at Widow’s Bay.

Here’s the official Apple TV trailer for Widow’s Bay. I highly recommend this show. Even if you don’t enjoy horror, this one is so quirky and funny that you won’t regret it.

Congratulations again to everyone involved in the Widow’s Bay production.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 16 September 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007