Scariest Fictional Villain

[NYC refugee]

Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear

[loves2read]

Originally Posted by NYC refugee

Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear

Mitchum is not a book’s villain although “Cape Fear” was a book initially vs a movie script...

I took the topic to mean book villain...

Randall Flagg in “The Stand”

The Devil in “The Exorcist”—
when I read that book over 40 yrs ago I borrowed paperback from a friend and started reading it at her house—drove home to the apt where my husband was out of town since he traveled for work most days of the week...
I read probably 1/3 or more of the book and then I got so scared I took the book downstairs/outside and locked it in my car because I didn’t want it in the apartment with me (part of the book is that the Devil creeps in via inanimate objects)...
I was still so freaked out that I couldn’t sleep and called my husband who was working in Clarksville TX—
A town about as far as you can go toward OK and still stay in TX...
Needless to say he was surprised at being called at 2am—and this was when motel phone calls when through a motel switchboard—no cell phones for sure—
He was nice enough to try to calm me down and we talked for 5-10 min
But as he admitted there was nothing he could do where he was...
I think I managed to finally get some sleep

I finished the book the next day but it was very scary—
I re-read many books over the years but this is one I never wanted to return to...

[JrzDefector]

The killer in No Country For Old Men.

[turkeydance]

Cathy Ames

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Nomo30346

Hello,

One of my top two favorite books of all time is Lonsesome Dove, with Gus as my most favorite fictional character off all time and BlueDuck as the worst villain. BlueDuck gave me nightmares for weeks.

Who is your scariest villain?

Blue Duck is a great villain for sure.

But when I read Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, where he introduces Hannibal Lector. Hannibal became my #1 all-time villain after reading it.

Harris actually introduced Lecter in that novel but not as a second character. Hannibal took center stage in 'The Silence of the Lambs", a sequel to Red Dragon.

I always thought that Harris was quite intelligent in realizing a secondary character he created had the potential to be a great villain, but I'm sure he was surprised at how fomous that character became.

Harris is a first-rate mystery/suspense writer. The movie Silence of the Lambs followed everything in the book very closely, including all the dialog and all the shots, and the book described it all so vividly reading it was like watching a movie to me.