- He has not given an interview since 1976.
- Fellow novelist Stephen King has remarked that if writing is sometimes tedious for other authors, to Harris it is like "writhing on the floor in agonies of frustration", because, for Harris, "the very act of writing is a kind of torment".
- Although he is known for writing dark and disturbing horror stories, he is known to friends and publishers as an extremely friendly, outgoing and polite person.
- While Harris was in Italy researching his novel "Hannibal," he attended the trial of the serial killer known as the 'Monster of Florence'.
- All of his novels have been adapted into films. Black Sunday (1977) is the only one that does not feature the character Hannibal Lecter. Manhunter (1986) is the only one that does not retain the novel's original title.
- He was very close to his mother and used to call her every night until her death in 2011.
- He has not watched Anthony Hopkins' iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter as he does not want his writing to be influenced by any one portrayal.
- Began his writing career covering crime in the United States of America and Mexico.
- Though most of the characters in the Hannibal Lecter novels are American, quite a few of them have been played by British actors. Hannibal Lecter was revealed in Hannibal to have been Lithuanian, but spent most of his life in Maryland. The first actor to play him, Brian Cox, is Scottish, while Anthony Hopkins is Welsh. Reba McClain, the love interest of Francis Dollarhyde in Red Dragon (2002), was originally played by Joan Allen in Manhunter (1986), but she was succeeded in Red Dragon (2002) by Emily Watson. Likewise, Tom Noonan, who played Dollarhyde, was succeeded by Ralph Fiennes. The villain in Hannibal (2001), Mason Verger, was played by Gary Oldman.
- Was a reporter and editor for the Associated Press in New York City.
- Three of the actors who play his characters in the Hannibal Lecter films effectively reverse the roles that they played in earlier films. Anthony Hopkins was cast as Lecter to be the polar opposite of Dr. Treves from The Elephant Man (1980). Jodie Foster went from captive in Taxi Driver (1976) to rescuer in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Harvey Keitel went from playing Foster's pimp in Taxi Driver (1976) to playing her (future) mentor in Red Dragon (2002).
- Lives in South Florida and has a home in Sag Harbor, New York.
- Hannibal Lecter has been played by three actors: Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, and Mads Mikkelsen. All three actors have also appeared in a Marvel Comics adaptation that makes reference to Lecter. Cox appeared in X2 (2003), in which Magneto's escape is modeled after Lecter's escape in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Hopkins appeared in Thor (2011), as the adopted father of Loki. In The Avengers (2012), Loki's interactions with Black Widow from the confines of a glass cage mirror the interactions between Lecter and Clarice Starling. Madsen appeared in Doctor Strange (2016), in which he is at one point restrained with a face mask resembling Lecter's.
- He didn't grant any interviews from 1976 until 2019.
- Is a very skilled and passionate chef and passed the Le Cordon Bleu cooking courses.
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