On wikipedia it says that Buffalo Bill was based on four real-life serial killers.
- Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who robbed graves and murdered women in order to flay their bodies and make clothing out of them. Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
- Ted Bundy, who killed dozens of women in the 1970s, often luring victims by pretending he was injured with a cast on his arm, a technique Gumb used to lure Catherine Martin into his van. Similar to Lecter, Bundy also offered to help investigators find other serial murderers by "giving insights" into their psychology while he was in death row, specifically about the Green River Killer.
- Gary M. Heidnik, who held women captive in a deep hole in his basement.
- Edmund Kemper, whose first victims were his grandparents, much like Buffalo Bill.
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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."
"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."