For four decades, Hannibal Lecter has shapeshifted from literary villain to Oscar-winning icon to cult TV antihero—reflecting and fueling America’s obsession with serial killers. In Hannibal Lecter: A Life (Simon & Schuster, Feb 10, 2026), film/TV critic and Ringer journalist Brian Raftery (author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen) delivers the first full biography of the world’s most famous fictional cannibal.
The book traces Lecter’s complete journey, from his terrifying birth in Thomas Harris’s novel Red Dragon to his screen debut in Manhunter, his immortalization in The Silence of the Lambs, and finally a TV run that rivaled Dexter’s, revealing how a meticulous director, a secretive author, and a new era of FBI profiling collided to create one of pop culture’s most enduring villains.
This deeply reported cultural biography is built on new and exclusive elements, including:
Unseen Archival Access: Jonathan Demme’s annotated Silence of the Lambs novel, reels of unused footage, internal FBI memos from Quantico about the filming, and never-before-seen correspondence between author Thomas Harris and Demme.
Fresh, Definitive Interviews: Original discussions with director Michael Mann and actor Brian Cox (Manhunter), former FBI profiler John Douglas (Mindhunter), and Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally and producer Ed Saxon.
A Unique Cultural Lens: An examination of how Lecter’s evolution across novels, films, and TV maps our decades-long fixation with true crime and the antihero.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Raftery’s work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Wired, GQ, and The Ringer. He’s the author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen, and the host of multiple podcasts for the Ringer, including the acclaimed Gene & Roger. He lives in Burbank, California, with his wife and daughters, and will never eat meat again.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Hannibal Lecter
Subtitle: A Life
Author: Brian Raftery
Publication date: February 10, 2026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Length: 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9781668070581
Webpage: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hannibal-Lecter/Brian-Raftery/9781668070581
Link to this title on NetGalley: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/736294
