Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare is the first in another young adult horror series that has been gaining popularity lately. While I typically enjoy young adult fiction, Cirque du Freak is a much younger YA book than I typically read, and I had to stop and remind myself to consider the intended audience very frequently.

The story line is slow to build, with most of the action and suspense saved for the end. The writing itself felt a bit clumsy, but once again this could be a product of authorial intention (writing for a young audience). I would certainly recommend the Cirque du Freak series for young readers (age nine or so), but I don't think I'll continue the series myself. (

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Luxx | Jan 16, 2010 |

It was very enjoyable but I thought the initial development was a bit long then there was a lot of action near the end. Still, I look forward to the next in the series. (

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gsmattingly | Jan 14, 2010 |

A very good read and a ridiculously quick one, as well. Good plot, realistic characters (no caractures or type-casts), and good imagery well-balanced with normal dialogue (no freakish adult-like dialogue for the children, but not overly simplified either...aside from Annie who seems unrealistically precocious). Perfect for upper middle school or lower high school, though thoroughly enjoyable even for older audiences. I was a bit annoyed with the over-use of italics, but at least the editor did a good job (unlike many of the other books I have read recently). (

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benuathanasia | Dec 30, 2009 |

this book is amazing it is full of thrill. tHIS BOOK is for people who like things that are wierd things. This book got into reading all of the series. I can tell you that if you like two kids that one loves doing things wroung while the other is a wuss. you will ove it. (

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MrsSClass | Dec 7, 2009 |

Cirque Du Freak it a very interesting book by Darren Shan. It is about a teenage boy who goes to this freak show with his best friend. During the show his best friend notices one of the performers as an ancient vampire named Mr. Crepsley. After the show his friend tried to convince the vampire to bite him and turn him into a vampire as well. Mr. Crepsley attempts to but says that he has bad blood and can not be a vampire. Darren decides to steal Mr. Crepsley's spider from his coffin and took it home. After a couple of days Darren and his friend were playing with the spider and it bit Darren's friend and they had to take him to the hospital. There was no cure or the spiders venom becuase he was a unique spider. Darren had no other choice but to talk to mr crepsley and ask him to cure his friend. He said he would if Darren agreed to become his assistant which meant that he would become a.......half-vampire! (darren agreed) (

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NeemaA13 | Nov 30, 2009 |

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Series (with order)

The Saga of Darren Shan (1)

Le cirque Du Freak (Book 1)

Canonical Title

Cirque du Freak

Original publication date

People/Characters

Larten Crepsley

Darren Shan

Madame Octa

Steve "Leopard" Leonard

Important places

Important events

Awards and honors

1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up (2009.0703|2009, Ages 8↑)

Epigraph

Dedication

Este desmadre lleno de freaks jamás hubiera salido a la luz de no ser por los esfuerzos de mis leales ayudantes de “cocina”:

Biddy y Liam, ”La Horrible Pareja”
Doménica de Rosa “La Diabólica”
Gillie Russell “La Gruñona”
Enma “La Exterminadora” Schlesinger
y
“El Señor de la Noche Carmesí”, Christopher Little

También debo dar las gracias a mis compañeros de festín: Las “Horribles Criaturas” de Harper Collins, y los macabros alumnos de la Askeaton Primary School (y otras) que se prestaron a hacer de conejillos de indias y alimentaron mis pesadillas para hacer que este libro fuera de lo más tenso, oscuro y escalofriante.

First words

I've always been fascinated by spiders.

Siempre me han fascinado las arañas.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

This fantastic horror book is about a story of a young boy, called Darren. Darren is just an ordinary student who likes to play soccer. One weird thing about him is that he loves spiders. One day, Darren and his best friend Steve got to go to a mysterious show of Cirque Du Freak. At the show, Darren gets charmed by a huge spider named Madame Octa, and he steals the spider from its owner, Mr.Crepsley.
Unfortunately, when Steve came to play at Darren's home, Madame Octa bites Steve. The only person who has an antidote to Madame Octa's poison is Mr.Crepsley. Darren finally goes to visit Mr.Crepsley to ask for the antidote and he exchanges the antidote by his soul, becomes a half-vampire.

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0316905712, Mass Market Paperback)

Anyone who loves the humorous but hair-raising horror in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series will devour British author Darren Shan's first novel with equal zeal. Some books are born with a surrounding buzz; this one even has Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling's stamp of approval: "Fast-paced and compelling, full of satisfying macabre touches," she writes. Warner Brothers will be making it into a movie, and the rest of the series is already in the works. Given all that, you'd expect a tour de force! Really, though, Cirque Du Freak is a thrill ride that will keep even the most reluctant readers turning pages, but will never take its place in the literary canon.

Darren Shan, author and narrator, sets the book up as a true story, warning readers: "Real life's nasty. It's cruel.... Evil often wins." Indeed, evil begins to win when Darren and his buddies find a flier for "Cirque Du Freak," a traveling freak show promising performances by the snake-boy, the wolf-man, and Larten Crepsley and his giant spider, Madame Octa. Darren and his friend Steve wouldn't miss it for the world.

So, Saturday night they sneak out to the old theater, tall and dark, with broken windows. "Every act you see tonight is real," croaks Mr. Tall. "Each performer is unique. And none are harmless." That's for sure. (A werewolf bites off the hand of someone in the audience, for instance.) Things grow very serious for the two boys when Steve not only recognizes Mr. Crepsley as a famous vampire, but professes his true desire to join him! To make matters worse, the spider-obsessed Darren goes back to the old theater to steal Madame Octa so he can teach her tricks in his room. (He does, with mixed results.) The plot further coagulates as Darren is faced with some terrible decisions about what to do to save his bloodthirsty friend Steve.

Readers may be too enthralled to notice some clumsy editing (the aforementioned bitten-off hand is later referred to as an arm, Darren stops dead in his tracks when he's already stopped, etc.). They may also not notice that the boys constantly use adult-sounding expressions like "his breath stank to the high heavens," though the book is clearly set in the 21st century. If this book gets under your kids' skin (and it probably will), they're in luck--we haven't heard the last of the Saga of Darren Shan. (Ages 10 and older, not for the faint of heart) --Karin Snelson

(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:17:41 -0500)

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