Review From Here

“Cirque du Freak-A Living Nightmare” by Darren Shan

November 12th, 2009 |

Author: admin

Cirque Du Freak A living nightmare

First Line: I’ve always been fascinated by spiders.
Last Line: Then, side by side, the vampire and his assistant, we began walking…into the night.

About the Book:
Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who enjoys hanging out with his three best friends. Then one day they stumble across as invitation to visit the Cirque du Freak, a mysterious freak show. Only two tickets are available, so they draw straws to see who will go. As if by destiny, Darren wins one, and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires. This is Darren’s story.

Review:
This series of books has been on my wishlist for some time, but now with the movie quickly approaching I figured now was the time to start reading them. I picked up “A Living Nightmare” not really knowing what to expect, which is the way I love going into a book. Here’s my review-

Darren Shan is your typical young boy. He has always been fascinated with spider, is the star of his lunchtime soccer team, and is a good friend to Stephen, Alan, and Tommy. Alan comes to school one day with a flyer that he has stolen from his brother, a flyer advertising a freakshow titled Cirque du Freak. Steve offers to “borrow” money from his mom to cover the cost of the tickets for the four friends, and also offers to sneak out to go and get them. Unfortunately he can only get two tickets and Darren is the lucky winner of the second one.

He and Steve go to the freak show and are not disappointed. Mr. Crepsley and Madame Octa are Darren’s favorite – the tricks he is able to do with his glorious spider are terrifying and fascinating. And the spider herself is gorgeous. After the night is through Steve explains to Darren that he recognizes Mr. Crepsley and instructs Darren to leave – he has some things to take care of. Darren instead sneaks to the balcony to watch the exchange between Steve and Mr. Crepsley, and exchange he wishes he never witnessed.

SPOILER ALERT
Darren hears Steve accuse Mr. Crespley of being an ancient vampire, someone he read about in one of the many books he has studied. But, after he offers himself up to the vampire to be his assistant, Mr. Crepsley takes one taste of him and declares him evil. Steve vows his revenge – he will be the greatest vampire hunter in the world. Darren is shocked and goes home, thinking about all that has happened that night…and about Madame Octa. He decides he must have her for his own, and knows just how to do it, he will blackmail Mr. Crepsley…threaten to expose him as a vampire.

Darren was worried that Mr. Crepsley would come after him but days passed with nothing. He finally revealed to Steve what he had done and instead of being mad, Steve wanted to participate in the training of Madame Octa. After a terrible accident, Steve is bitten and about ready to die when Darren finds Mr. Crepsley. He offers to become the assistand if his friends life will be spared. His offer is accepted.

I found this book extremely well written and easy to read. The only issue I had was the ending. I felt that the author rushed through the transition from human to vampires assistant, and the fact that Darren wasn’t embalmed still bothers me, especially since this book is set in modern times. Other than that, I would HIGHLY recommend this book.

About the Author:
Darren Shan was born in London but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He grew up watching old Dracula horror movies and reading spooky comics, which were the inspirations for this book. Cirque Du Freak is Darren Shan’s first novel for young readers.