The Silence of the Lambs was originally a Hannibal Lecter novel by Thomas Harris.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character in a series of suspense novels by Thomas Harris . The Silence of the Lambs (film) . Adapted by Ted Tally from the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris , his second to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter ; a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer , the film was the second adaptation of a Harris novel featuring Lecter , preceded by the Michael Mann-directed Manhunter in 1986 .