Lessons from Hannibal Lecter: How to Write a Human Monster

Poster image for Hannibal (Ridley Scott, 2001).

What’s so scary about Hannibal Lecter anyway?

He can’t float through your bedroom window or break through walls. He can’t sprout tentacles, drag you to Hell, hunt you in your dreams, or throttle you with telekinesis. Bullets are a grave inconvenience to him, and he would never be so uncouth as to pick up a chainsaw.

He’s just a man, “a small, lithe man. Very neat.”

So how did premier thriller/horror author Thomas Harris make a character with no superna...