With the introductions of Widow’s Bay taken care of, it’s now time for the fledgling horror/comedy show to put us up for the night as we start digging into the individual problems this supposed island is supposed to have. Last episode we had an earthquake and the possible threat of an evil fog that renders any poor soul trapped within a white-eyed revenent with (possible) erectile dysfunction; however for this outing, we switch from riffing John Carpenter’s The Fog to any number of stories that feature a hotel with a haunted room.
Of course, as stressful as all that is, I don’t think that even a haunted hotel could work up enough stress to top the anxiety Matthew Rhys’ constantly frustrated Mayor, Tom Loftis, is current feeling everytime one of the local cry evil. Proving that the first episode was no spooky fluke, the folks behind Widow’s Bay have prepared a room for us. All we have to do is stay the night…
After his interview with a New York Times travel writer managed to score a glowing review for the island of Widow’s Bay, it seems that Tom’s dream of pumping more money into the local economy thanks to improved tourism is well on the way to being realised. However, even the quote that suggests that the island might become “the new Martha’s Vineyard” isn’t enough to stop that old anxiety brewing once the superstitious locals start mumbling up vague warnings. For a start, Tom mentions to Reverend Bryce that the church bell started ringing the night before and kept some people awake, but while the long-suffering Mayor assumes it was his bored son and his stoner friends who were responsible for the prank, Bryce looks disturbed that such a thing could happen as the bell has been chained up for years.
As the Reverend starts a deep dive to discover how such a thing could happen, Tom once again has to deal with the angry rantings of Wyck, whose claims that the island is evil and has “woken up” have now turned their attentions to the Breakwater Inn. Apparently more haunted than Willem Dafoe’s cheek bones, Wyck demands that the place be shut down much to the anger of owner, Evan. But in the heat of the moment, Tom loudly calls Wyck a hick, leading to the rest of the town being understandably disgruntled with the slur and in an attempt to appease everyone, Tom agrees to a dare to stay in the Inn for one night.
However, because the Breakwater is so haunted, the locals give Tom a laundry list of tasks to achieve to call up the dozens of furious spirits that apparently reside there after decades of questionable history. After settling in the Captain’s Suite (named after a captain who killed his family), Tom gets to work recording himself invoking the ire of such spirits as the Killer Clown and Ugly Hortence, but after getting scared by another guest named Willy, he bonds with the guy. But in the cold light of day, was Tom’s stay at the Breakwater Inn actually as uneventful as he first thought?
Much like the stay at a far less haunted hotel, Widow’s Bay is settling in nicely and it’s subtle blend of enjoyable dread and laugh-out-loud one liners is proving to be something of a refreshing watch. What makes “Lodging” arguably a more fun watch than the hugely enjoyable first episode is that while the threat of the fog was suitably neblous, the fact that the characters and the concept had to delivered first tended to pull focus from the threat. However, with everyone mostly already accounted for, episode two is free to delve more into inherent farcical nature of having a man with gradually crumbling skepticism desperate to prove all of his town’s bizarre legends false. Needless to say, having poor old Tom stay at a haunted inn takes that idea and runs with it like a bat out of Hell.
Firstly, we have to say hello to Toby Huss’ Reverend Bryce who, despite having something of a calm, cynical demeanour, will not doubt find himself pretty overworked as the episodes continue on. But while it seens that not everyone in Widow’s Bay is a superstitious eccentric who constantly act as a thorn in Tom’s side, we get the sizable hint that Bryce will soon be a jittery as everybody else when the bells of the church start ringing. We find that this is an utter impossibility as the bells have very clearly been out of commission for a sizable amount of time and as he digs into the history of the church and finds instructions left by a past Reverend about what it means and what to do in such an event. While we’re only given hints, you can bet that it’s nothing good and it’s a perfect example of the show overlaying numerous threats like reading multiple pulp, horror novels at the same time.
While the comparisons to the works of Stephen King are valid (and obvious) touchstone, the added humour that mocks various conventions feels more like a nod to the trashier authors that banged out yearly potboilers such as Richard Laymon, Guy N. Smith, Shaun Hutson and James Herbert and who went on to inspire the likes of the stupendous Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. It’s not just one threat that’s apparently looming over the island – in fact it’s not only one threat that’s lurking within the Breakwater Inn. It’s here that Widow’s Bay fully shows its hand in a wonderful exchange between Tom and the townsfolk who reel off a surprisingly long list of spectral dangers that apparently lurk within the hotel. Be it the legend of the murderous Captain who slaughtered his kin (“Of course, we then named a suite after him.”), the ghost of the unfortunately monikered Ugly Hortence who will appear behind you if you say her name, or countless others that requires Tom to perform various rituals and tasks to prove that it’s all bollocks.
From here, the show creeps in further into horror as it assaults our well-meaning lead with various subtle, odd occurrences such as a supremely strange welcome video, or the fact that the supremely confident Evan won’t even stay in his own hotel for the night. The attention to detail us truly wonderful, especially down to the upsetting paintings (drowning orphans are apparently one of the less offensive paintings in the place) and a series of confoundingly unsettling board games such as “Daddy’s Home” and “Run”. It all leads to a meeting with the affable guest, Willy, who turns out to actually be the spirit of the Killer Clown, but while we see that Tom’s resolve is starting to weaken after his experiences with the zombie Shep Clark and Willy, Wyck is still dismayed to see that the Mayor is still in denial while the town is rapidly approaching potential financial success.
With its second episode, we find Widow’s Bay going from strength to strength as it now has the maneuverability to fully take advantage of it’s awesomely fertile scenario. Even if the show shifts to a “creature of the week” format, it’s still on track to be one of the best and most enjoyable horror shows on the market. As it is, I’m already itching to see what messed-up legend the hapless Tom struggles to disprove next week in that endearingly understated way – and that’s all the reason I need to become a Widow’s Bay local.
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