Hannibal Lector is the scariest horror film character of all time, a new poll has revealed. The serial killer and cannibal from 1991 horror Silence of the Lambs, played by Anthony Hopkins, came in at number one ahead of Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger.
Psycho killer Norman Bates was voted into third place, while The Shining’s Jack Torannce, played by Jack Nicholson, and Chucky completed the top five.
Simon Redfern, director of corporate affairs at Starbucks, who carried out the survey to celebrate the return of its popular Pumpkin Spiced Latte said:
“As the excitement builds around this year’s coolest Halloween character costume, it’s interesting to see it’s the classic ‘oldies’ topping the list of the UK’s scariest horror characters, with Hannibal Lector at no.1 and Jaws also in the top 10.
“We’ll be celebrating the season with our own Halloween favourite, Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Now in its second year, it’s proving a popular treat for Autumn.”
Sixth place in the poll, of 1,000 people, went to Saw’s Jigsaw, while Michael Myers from 1978 film Halloween was at number seven.
Leatherface, the villain from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was voted into eighth place, with the Dawn of the Dead zombies at number nine.
The famous shark from Jaws completed the top ten.
Top ten scariest horror film characters
- Hannibal Lector (Silence of the Lambs)
- Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
- Norman Bates (Psycho)
- Jack Torannce (The Shining)
- Chucky (Chucky)
- Jigsaw (Saw)
- Michael Myers (Halloween)
- Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)
- Zombies (Dawn of the Dead)
- Jaws (Jaws)
