Best Psychological Horror - Thriller Series - Hannibal the Cannibal by Thomas Harris

The great tetralogy about Hannibal Cannibal Lecter has been a legendary, cultic masterpiece of horror/suspense fiction since the nineties, and a milestone in the history of serial killer dramas.

Classic Suspense Fiction Novel Series - Hannibal by Thomas Harris

In the horror-thriller novel titled Hannibal (the original version of the film Hannibal), seven years after finding Buffalo Bill the maniacal skinner serial killer, Clarice Sterling’s career seems to suffer an irreparable damage, as she, out of self-defense, shoots a pregnant drug dealer by accident during a raid. (Is drug dealing forgivable in case one is pregnant?) Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, has a good life, contemplating and enjoying the world’s beauty in Italy. He even sends word to Sterling, asking her to reveal details of her personal life. FBI still hunts him, thus they find themselves in need of Sterling’s help. A Department of Justice agent, named Paul Krendler, allies with a paedophile millionaire, Mason Verger, one of Hannibal’s victims, to use Sterling as a bait in searching Hannibal. After a meeting with Hannibal, Verger was left paralysed and with his face skinned – Hannibal feed dogs with the flayed skin; thus Verger spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair, thinking about revenge. The two of them bribe an Italian policeman who soon learns where Hannibal is hiding. However, the cruelly intelligent serial killer waits for his arrival and has some ugly surprises in store for Verger who plans a horrific death for Hannibal…
In the horror/suspense/crime novel version, written by Thomas Harris in 1999, Hannibal and Clarice Sterling become romantically involved, unlike the film adaptation from 2001. I have always said that the scene when Anthony Hopkins gathers the still form of a fainted Sterling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster in the second instalment of the Hannibal movies) from the ground, or the scene when he pins her by her hair to the refridgerator, were the most sensuous scenes I have ever seen on film.