People are fascinated by evil because it's mysterious and it doesn't seem to have a rationale behind it, and the second you say that Hannibal Lector was abducted as a child and he had to eat his sister or something like that, it becomes immediately mundane. The character becomes mundane.
Animals keep you company when you're really lonely. It helps because when you have a friend around who always likes you no matter what - it's harder to feel bad or down.
I tried the Atkins diet in the Seventies when pregnant with my son, as I didn't want to pile on the pounds. Now, so long as I'm healthy, I don't care what my scales say.