Temple of Geek’s Maria Akhtar sits down with Production Designer Steve Arnold to discuss his Emmy-nominated work on the hit series Widow’s Bay. Steve dives into how his personal roots in the Pacific Northwest inspired the show’s setting, the intricate process of building 25 stage sets, drawing homage to classic horror like Jaws and The Shining, and the balance between comedy, horror, and set engineering.

Creating a tonal balance between genuine atmospheric scares and deadpan comedy requires careful spatial design and cinematic homage. On Widow’s Bay, Arnold approached the visual design by referencing classic genre films. Highlighting a primary influence, Arnold stated: “Katie was a huge fan of a lot of these classic horror movies, but one of her favorites… was Jaws, because it’s set on an island… and so that time period was about the right age for how old everything would be… so we copied a lot of stuff from Jaws”. Additionally, when designing lodging locations, he noted: “I really connected with The Shining and you know this sort of strange, weird hotel… so we pushed that also”.

Structural Layouts for Comedy

To support the show’s comedic elements, Arnold drew on his background in classic comedy and silent film slapstick. Sets were intentionally built with spatial complications to facilitate actor movement. Arnold explained: “I’ve always really been drawn to good comedy… I grew up going to a theater where we would see silent movies and a lot of the comic stuff, the slapstick stuff”.

Designing the Salty Whale restaurant set, Arnold ensured there were distinct levels: “I built into that set a set of stairs… I did want this kind of travel and kind of changing up things… so that spatial complication, I thought, was pretty effective”. The town hall set incorporated open doorways and cut-through walls, which Arnold noted “makes for interesting actor activity” during frantic scenes. Rather than relying on graphic gore, Arnold described the scares as more like “the Disney haunted house… these little kind of surprise things, but it’s not like blood and guts”. He praised the cast, stating: “They were able to just squeeze out that comedy in a deadpan way that is so classic”.

By merging structural comedic layouts with classic horror homage, the production design anchors the show’s unique blend of humor and suspense.

All 10 episodes of Widows Bay season 1 are available and streaming on Apple TV.