‘Widow’s Bay’ & ‘Obsession’—the horror genre is having a moment

One is a self-aware genre-defying comedy-slash-horror. The other is true horror—and truly creepy—but made through unconventional means by a 20-something YouTuber.

And they’re both absolutely killing. Pun intended.

I’m gonna keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I really do recommend viewing both. They are getting buzz (and hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office) for good reason. Both are exceptionally well made, original projects that will absolutely become a blueprint in Hollywood for the near future.

Let’s get into why.

“The mayor of a New England town resolves to turn it into the next tourist hot spot, despite local warnings that it’s cursed.”

Kind of like if the shark from “Jaws” could kill tourists on land, too.

“Widow’s Bay” could have gone full “Castle Rock” and given us things that go bump in the night, but creator Katie Dippold cleverly transcended the genre and delivered bumbling protagonists and some of the best throw-away jokes ever written instead. While there are definitely creepy moments, “Widow’s Bay” is simply too amusing to be too scary, not that I recommend watching it alone with the lights out.

In fact, horror king Guillermo del Toro posted that it “may very well be the best streaming series in a long time… and hands down one of the most mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation in horror.”

Let’s circle back to Dippold for a second. She originally wrote the pilot 20 years ago as a spec script that landed her a job on the writing staff of “Parks and Recreation”—yes, a sitcom. Her roots are in comedy and wow did she deliver in this breakout hit.

“Widow’s Bay” pays beautiful homage to Dippold’s time on “Parks and Rec” in that there’s a workplace comedy vibe going on with the team in the office of Mayor Tom Loftis, played by the probably-soon-to-be-Emmy-contender Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”).

You’ve got town pariah Patricia, played by Kate O’Flynn (“Bridget Jones’s Baby”). This will be her star-making role; trust me, episode 4 is going to be pop culture zeitgeist henceforth. There’s the delightfully wry Rosemary played by Dale Dickey (“True Blood”, “Dutton Ranch”), whose meme-worthy quotes are already flooding the internet. The town sheriff is played by Kevin Carroll (“Blindspotting”).

And there’s Stephen Root (“Barry”, “Office Space”) gives a great performance as Wyck, the crazy guy in town who tried to warn you. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t shout out Betty Gilpin’s delivery as a woman of “four and ten” who is past her prime in the year 1702 (it’s not a spoiler o inform you that there’s a flashback episode).

You’ll cringe. You’ll shriek. You’ll laugh. “Widow’s Bay” delivers the emotional thrills of spooks and relief and it is truly not one to be missed.

The season one finale just aired on Apple TV+ so you can binge the entire show in a day, just like I did. Enjoy.

“Obsession”

“After breaking the mysterious ‘One Wish Willow’ to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.“

“Obsession” is the current box office talking point. It’s a feature film from YouTuber Curry Barker, who wrote, directed, and edited the supernatural horror. With absolutely unnerving performances from Inde Navarrette (“Superman & Lois”) and Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”) and a horrifying premise, you can be certain of butthole clenching scares.

Barker attributes YouTube to his success. It gave him an audience (1.4 million subscribers, for starters) and it gave him the analytics to study, allowing him to gain an understanding of when attention drops off. With “Obsession” he truly put that to the test, holding moments of tension with the confidence and sophistication of a much more experienced filmmaker.

He encourages other filmmakers to do the same.

“If I was giving advice… I would say make a horror short and put it on YouTube. Because horror shorts go viral online. It’s harder to get a comedy short to go viral online. You wouldn’t get a romance short to go viral… Horror is just an easier way in,” reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

And he’s not the only one who has gained success from the internet.

20 year-old Kane Parsons (also known as Kane Pixels) has just released his own feature debut, the sci-fi horror “Backrooms” which he adapted from an online short he released on his channel years ago.

With the 2025 success of films like “Weapons” and “Sinners” and these new projects firing up 2026, it’s clear that clever horror is having a moment.

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