CIRQUE DU FREAK: A Living Nightmare
Darren Shan, CIRQUE DU FREAK: A Living Nightmare
With strong sales overseas and a movie deal in the works, book one in The Saga of Darren Shan series is poised to capture a wide audience of series horror readers. After a rather slow buildup, a boy with the same name as the author sneaks out with best friend Steve to an illicit freak show, and his life becomes entangled with a vampire spider-wrangler, Mr. Crepsley. "This is a true story," writes Shan. "In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins." The scenario is compelling, and the author mines the exploitative history of early 20th-century sideshows to create an artfully macabre "Cirque du Freak." But Darren's actions are often undermotivated: "I can't explain why Madam Octa [the spider] meant so much to me, or why I was placing my life in such danger to have her. Looking back, I'm no longer sure what drove me on." Also his intermittent attraction to and repulsion by the vampire is never fully explored. His behavior may be explained in the sequel, The Vampire's Assistant
(due in Sept.), but the open ending leaves so many loose ends that readers may leave more frustrated than intrigued, especially since the characters' wooden dialogue drains them of personality ("I'm upset," says Steve. "It hurt, what Mr. Crepsley said, and you ignoring me at school... If you break up our friendship, I don't know what I'll do"). Readers interested in boys becoming vampires would be better served by M.T. Anderson's Thirsty
—and those fascinated with freaks by Iain Lawrence's Ghost Boy . Ages 10-up. (Apr.)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 02/19/2001
Genre: Children's
Compact Disc - 978-1-4829-4388-7
Hardcover - 256 pages - 978-0-7862-3733-3
MP3 CD - 978-1-4829-4386-3
Mass Market Paperbound - 272 pages - 978-0-316-90571-8
Open Ebook - 101 pages - 978-0-316-14417-9
With strong sales overseas and a movie deal in the works, book one in The Saga of Darren Shan series is poised to capture a wide audience of series horror readers. After a rather slow buildup, a boy with the same name as the author sneaks out with best friend Steve to an illicit freak show, and his life becomes entangled with a vampire spider-wrangler, Mr. Crepsley. "This is a true story," writes Shan. "In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins." The scenario is compelling, and the author mines the exploitative history of early 20th-century sideshows to create an artfully macabre "Cirque du Freak." But Darren's actions are often undermotivated: "I can't explain why Madam Octa [the spider] meant so much to me, or why I was placing my life in such danger to have her. Looking back, I'm no longer sure what drove me on." Also his intermittent attraction to and repulsion by the vampire is never fully explored. His behavior may be explained in the sequel,
Reviewed on: 02/19/2001
Genre: Children's
Compact Disc - 978-1-4829-4388-7
Hardcover - 256 pages - 978-0-7862-3733-3
MP3 CD - 978-1-4829-4386-3
Mass Market Paperbound - 272 pages - 978-0-316-90571-8
Open Ebook - 101 pages - 978-0-316-14417-9
