The universe surrounding the adaptations of Hannibal Lecter books is both rewarding and soul-crushing. There are some real duds, such as Brian Cox's Manhunter, the 1986 adaptation of the 1981 novel Red Dragon. But there are some incredibly rewarding pieces of media, too, like the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, featuring Anthony Hopkins as the disturbing cannibal, and Jodie Foster as the tough-as-nails FBI trainee Clarice Starling.
My favorite take on the books, however, is Bryan Fuller's Hannibal, which aired on NBC from 2013 to 2015. It's a masterpiece in its gripping writing, splatterfest visuals, and deeper insight into the relationship between Mads Mikkelsen's Lecter and Hugh Dancy's FBI agent Will Graham. Hannibal is the show I return to each October. It's a horror-thriller that wants to seduce and terrify you, all at the same time.
So many episodes of Hannibal horrify me. Choosing just one to recommend was difficult. You've got episodes where someone chops his own face off to feed to dogs. A guy gets stuffed inside the belly of a dead horse. Someone's fetus is put into the womb of a pig. And yet, nothing quite makes me shudder and feel wrong in my own skin than the second episode of season 2, "Sakizuke."
"Sakizuke" begins with the FBI finding a ton of dead, naked bodies in a river. The FBI is perplexed to find that the bodies are hard and preserved, and are unsure how to go about finding the location where the killer dumps them. However, due to his superior sense of smell (seriously, this guy claims he can detect cancer in people), Hannibal is one step ahead and can identify the scent of corn. He heads to a grain silo, where he discovers that the killer they're hunting is stitching human bodies together to create a mural.
I adore this episode, and not just because I have to rub warmth into my skin again each time I see one of the victims of the mural's skin literally peel off to expose the flesh underneath when they try to escape, but because of how gorgeously shot "Sakizuke" is. Hannibal climbing up the silo to look inside from above to see that the bodies are meant to represent an eye looking up at the sky still sticks with me even years later. It's a haunting but wonderful image, curated by the deranged ramblings of a killer, but still unnervingly poetic at the same time. Disgusting, but gorgeous -- a juxtaposition that haunts every episode of Hannibal. If you wind up enjoying "Sakizuke," it's a sign that you should certainly give the full 3 seasons of Hannibal your attention.
Where to watch: All episodes of Hannibal are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Polygon's annual Halloween Countdown is a 31-day run of short recommendations of the best horror movies, shows, TV episodes, and online specials to stream for the Halloween season. You can find the entire calendar here.