The chilling Saga of Darren Shan, the ordinary schoolboy plunged into the vampire world.

Darren goes to a banned freak show with his best mate Steve. It's the wonderfully gothic Cirque Du Freak where weird, frightening half human/half animals appear who interact terrifyingly with the audience. Darren - a spider freak - 'falls in love' with Madam Octa - an enormous tarantala owned by Mr Crepsley. Darren determines to steal the spider so that he can train it to perform amazing deeds. But his daring theft goes horribly wrong and Darren finds himself having to make a bargain with a creature of the night.

Something out of the ordinary is set against the background of children's normal lives to chilling effect. Atmospheric, funny, realistic, moving and... terrifying.

The chilling Saga of Darren Shan, the ordinary schoolboy plunged into the vampire world. THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN BOOK 1 Darren goes to a banned freak show with his best mate Steve. It's the wonderfully gothic Cirque Du Freak where weird, frightening half human/half animals appear who interact terrifyingly with the audience. Darren -- a spider freak -- 'falls in love' with Madam Octa -- an enormous tarantala owned by Mr Crepsley. Darren determines to steal the spider so that he can train it to perform amazing deeds. But his daring theft goes horribly wrong and Darren finds himself having to make a bargain with a creature of the night. Something out of the ordinary is set against the background of children's normal lives to chilling effect. Atmospheric, funny, realistic, moving and! terrifying. Key title / The worldwide bestselling series relaunched and ready to be loved by a whole new generation of Shansters! / Cirque Du Freak - the movie from Universal Pictures is due in cinemas in February 2009!! Directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie, In Good Company), starring Salma Heyek and John C Reilly - it's guaranteed to attract new readers to Darren's books / The Saga of Darren Shan 12 book series has sold over 1 million copies in the UK alone and is published all over the world / Supported by a large scale marketing & PR campaign to include bespoke Darren Shan dumpbin in all high street retailers and massive online PR/viral campaign to recruit new readers / Competition: Paul Stewart

About the Author

Darren Shan is the number-one best-selling author of the series THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN, the DEMONATA and more recently the SAGA OF LARTEN CREPSLEY and ZOM-B. His books have been read by millions of people around the world and translated into more than 25 languages. Darren lives in seclusion in the depths of Ireland. He is a big film buff, and also loves theatre, comics and books, and collecting art. He loves dreaming up new ways to terrify his readers, but never drinks blood. Or so he claims.

Reviews

Cirque Du Freak
"...fast-paced and compelling book ... full of satisfyingly macabre touches...which leaves the reader hungry for more."
JK Rowling

'Brilliant, macabre tale.'
Guardian

"I read Cirque Du Freak last week. I loved it. I love the way you manage to juggle the funny with the unpleasant, the affection with the hurt. It's
great story-telling."
Roddy Doyle

The Vampire's Assistant
"The Vampire's Assistant blazes a thrilling, gruesome trail through a fascinating plot."
The Good Book Guide

Vampire Mountain
"Get your teeth into it!"
Funday Times

Book Information
ISBN 9780006754169
Author Darren Shan
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint HarperCollins Children's Books
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 140g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 12mm