6. The Silence Of The Lambs
The part of America that remembers the name of Ted Bundy regrets the fact that such a man ever existed. Bundy was notoriously known for killing at least thirty people between 1974 and 1978. In fact, his name followed such a gross reputation that Thomas Harris, the man who wrote the book 'Red Dragon' that later inspired the Hannibal Lecter movie series, sent a copy of his book to Bundy as he was undergoing trial, which leads us to believe that large chunks of Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter were drawn from this man. Similar to Buffalo Bill, Bundy's modus operandi was based on pretending to be injured and to ask help from unsuspecting victims. He would later pounce on his prey as soon as he lured it into an inconspicuous place. On the inspiration behind the infamous Lecter, it is claimed that the author of the book, Harris, once told his librarian that the character of Lecter was inspired by William Coyne, a local murderer, who had escaped from prison in 1934 and then gone on a ghastly rampage involving killings and acts of cannibalism. Coyne's name was familiar in the part of the world Harris grew up in, so it is highly likely that the man Anthony Hopkins played so adroitly would have in fact eaten killed and eaten Hopkins himself if he'd been around then.