SOUTHBOROUGH ― As the leaves change from green to orange, jack-o’-lanterns are placed with care on the doorsteps and horror movies creep their way onto our streaming services.
From vampires to ghosts, witches to werewolves, this time of year is all about monsters. In Massachusetts, many head to Salem for the haunted-holiday season, but did you know Southborough is home to Hollywood’s original werewolf?
Buried in the Southborough Rural Cemetery lies actor Warner Oland, the first to ever wear the infamous werewolf prosthetics and widow’s peak hairstyle, and to deliver a bite to an unsuspecting victim on the silver screen.
In 1935, the public saw the first ever feature-length werewolf movie, forever changing the notion of a full moon. ” Werewolf of London ,” not to be confused with the 1981 film “An American Werewolf in London,” tells the story of a botanist who goes in search of a mysterious flower in Tibet.
While on his journey, the botanist, played by Henry Hull, is bitten by a creature, later to be revealed as a werewolf, played by Oland. Once back in London, the botanist slowly transforms into a monster and wreaks havoc on those closest to him.