Hannibal Lecter influenced The Silence of the Lambs

Demme's film adapts Thomas Harris's 1988 novel of the same name, credited on screen. The screenplay keeps Harris's structure almost intact: the trainee sent to interview the prisoner, the quid pro quo, and the parallel hunt for Buffalo Bill running against the clock. This names the specific novel The Silence of the Lambs, not the Lecter series, and the difference is a real one. Red Dragon (1981) is the first book and was filmed by Michael Mann as Manhunter in 1986; Hannibal follows in 1999.