Lester Lowe

Lester Lowe is a fictional character in the Stephen King universe. He appears in the novella Cycle of the Werewolf and the film Silver Bullet (film). The story and plight of Lowe is inspired by the ancient folklore tale of the Werewolf Priest, although Lowe himself is actually a Baptist reverend.

Role in the Novella

Lowe first appears in the novella in April preaching a sermon about Spring and God's love.

In May, Lowe has a dream that he is preaching on Homecoming Sunday, the next day, and that he is giving the sermon of his life. Then, his begins to transform into werewolves. As Lowe continues to preach, his words turn to snarls and he also transforms. After he awakes, he goes to his window half-suspecting to see the werewolf. He then says a prayer, asking for forgiveness for his superstitious lapse and goes back to sleep. The next day, he finds Clyde Corliss, a janitor, gutted on the pulpit.

In October, on Halloween, Marty Coslaw goes trick-or-treating looking for someone missing a left eye. He finds Lowe, although he does not know he has been discovered.

In November, Lowe realizes that he is the werewolf. After his dream in May, Lowe began realizing that he had missing clothing and bruises he could not account for. In June, he awoke with blood on his hands and lips. In July, he awoke missing his left eye, although there was no pain. Lowe begins rationalizing his curse by telling himself that all things serve the will of God, and begins to go insane. In November, Marty began sending Lowe unsigned letters telling him to kill himself. Lowe decides to begin listening to gossip to discover who he attacked in July, as he has no memory of his actions in the Beast state. Meanwhile, Elmer Zinneman began leading a group of vigilantes into the woods to kill the werewolf. Lowe begins to feel the change coming, as his words turn to grunts, he begins to hunch when he walks, his brown eyes turn green, he grows a full beard, and his chest expands. To avoid the hunters, he travels to Portland, Maine where he purchases a hotel room. Milt Sturmfuller purchases the adjacent room, where he cheats on his wife Donna Lee. When Sturmfuller exits the room, he is decapitated by the werewolf. Upon returning to Tarker's Mills, Lowe reads the newspaper and when reading about Sturmfuller's death he decides that he was a bad man, and that his death was a good thing.

In December, Marty signs the last two letters he sends to Lowe. On New Year's Eve, the werewolf attacks Marty in his home. Unbeknownst to Lowe, however, Marty convinced his maternal Uncle Al to melt down his confirmation spoon into two silver bullets. Marty shoots the werewolf twice, blinding and killing him. He transforms back into a deceased Reverend Lowe in front of Al, Marty, and Herman Coslaw.

Role in the Film

In the film, Lowe is first seen in Spring speaking at a town gathering.

He is next seen speaking a Brady Kincaid's funeral, telling the mourners that the time of the Beast always passes.

When the vigilantes go hunting for the killer, Lowe attempts to disuade them along with local Sheriff Joe Haller, though they both fail.

Shortly thereafter, Lowe has a dream that his transforms into werewolves.

In September, after Marty Coslaw blasts the werewolf's eye out with a fire rocket, his sister Jane discovers that Lowe is the only person in town missing a left eye.

Marty begins sending Lowe letters telling him to kill himself. After the siblings tell their maternal Uncle Red about the letters, Lowe tries to run Marty, who is driving his motorcycle/wheelchair, off the road with his car. When Marty is trapped under a closed covered bridge, Lowe tells him that he killed Stella Randolph so that she could not commit suicide and go to hell, and that therefore he cannot kill himself. Lowe then apologizes and tells Marty that he is going to drown him in the river when Marty is unwittingly saved by Elmer Zinneman.

When Red discovers evidence proving the car chase, he tells Haller to investigate Lowe. Although Red admits that he has his doubts, and Haller does not believe Lowe to be a killer, he is desperate for a suspect. While investigating Lowe, Haller is shocked to discover evidence that at least some of Marty's story is true. Just then, he discovers Lowe who had locked himself in his garage. Lowe tells Haller that it is not his fault, transforms, and kills him.

In October, on Halloween, the werewolf attacks Marty. Unbeknownst to Lowe, Marty and Jane have convinced Red to make them a silver bullet. Red stabs the werewolf with a woodstove poker and hits it with a block of wood, but is severely beaten. Marty shoots the werewolf in the right eye, blinding and killing him. He transforms into a deceased Reverend Lowe before their eyes.

He was portrayed by Everett McGill. McGill was paid for a dual role, as he was officially credited as both Reverend Lester Lowe and the werewolf.

See also

Werewolf Priest