Human hunting refers to people hunting and killing humans for the purpose of revenge, pleasure, entertainment, or sustenance. In Hunting Humans: The Rise Of The Modern Multiple Murderer, Elliott Leyton, professor of anthropology at Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland, debunks the myth of the killer-sophisticate and argues that modern serial killers seek out and kill victims who represent of a social class slightly above his (or to a lesser extent, her) own that has denied the killer the desired status. Some science fiction writers depicted fictional future or alternate history tyrannical regimes where the hunting of humans for sport is institutionalised (see The Sound of His Horn).
Though it is mostly known as a prevalent theme in fiction, there have been historical incidents of the practice being carried out during times of social upheaval. A 2016 report by Daniel Wright, senior lecturer in tourism at the University of Central Lancashire, predicts the hunting of the poor will become a hobby of the superrich in a future plagued by economic and ecological disasters and overpopulation.
History
During the Spanish Civil War, a real-world version of this practice became popular among the sons of wealthy landowners. The hunts took place on horseback and targeted landless peasants as an extension of the White Terror. They were jokingly referred to as "Reforma agraria" referencing both the grave their quarry would eventually be dumped into, and the land reforms the lower classes had been attempting to attain.
Serial killer Robert Hansen abducted and then let his victims loose to hunt them.