Silence of the Lambs' movie house has an offer from animal rights group PETA

The house used as Buffalo Bill’s terrifying abode in the 1991 movie Silence of the Lambs has apparently been a bit of a challenge to sell.

After being put on the market at US$300,000 (AU$427,966) in August last year by the owners Scott and Barbara Lloyd, and having the price dropped to US$250,000 in December, it’s garnered interest from an unexpected source.

PETA – The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – want the property. According to their website, PETA has contacted the real estate agent responsible for the listing to “express our interest in converting it into an empathy museum”.

PETA’s vice president Tracy Reiman sent the letter, and the idea is that the plan would “serve as a way to point out that all animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone and that just like us, they too experience fear and suffering and are capable of joy and love”.

The idea is that museum visitors could “wear the skins of slain and abused animals” – presumably in a nod to the Buffalo Bill character’s plan to make a human skin suit. Not the actual skins, though, Peta spokeswoman Kate Tuggle​ has clarified the real animals would not be used in the exhibitions.

The property is located about an hour south of ​Pittsburgh in a small village and thankfully doesn’t come with a scary pit (that part was filmed on a sound stage), a deranged serial killer, or a toy poodle named “Precious”. Dianne Wilk of RE/MAX has the listing.