cannibalism research

One of the most famous cannibals is actually a fictional character. Dr. Hannibal Lecter first appeared in Thomas Harris’ novels and was later famously portrayed in movies such as Silence of the Lambs. He also features in the NBC television series Hannibal, which is now streaming on Netflix. 

What about cannibals in real life?

You may have heard of notorious serial killer cannibals such as Karl Denke who operated in the early 20th century in Germany and Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, who operated later last century in the USA. 

And there are many more cases of cannibalism worldwide, despite cannibalistic homicides remaining a very rare crime.

Here, we present the results and the data from academic research about human cannibalism in modern times. You can read about our current study on the research page, and the accompanying data on the offenders and victims pages. Feel free to contact us with any questions.