Darren Shan was living a great life- he had, lots of friends, family, hobbies, a great school, and he was good at football, but he lost it all after one fateful night, when he and his friend decided to go to a banned freak show that would change his life.
After his friend found a flyer about a about a circus that would be performing in his town in a few days, he decided to sneak out of his house late at night to watch. Just like the flyer said, many strange people performed on stage including a bearded lady and a wolf-man, but he didn't find anything more interesting than Madam Octa; an incredibly venomous spider that belong to the supposed vampire, Mr Crepsley. He wanted Madam Octa so badly that he decided to steal her from the circus the next night. After training her for weeks he decides it's safe to show her to Steve, his best friend, but tragedy strikes when he is bitten. After asking Mr Crepsley for the cure he is given two choices- to save Steve's life or end his own.
Cirque Du Freak is a great horror book that is the start of a series that is based around Darren Shan's life after getting turned into a half-vampire. The story is very interesting and has many dark twists and turns that keep the reader's focus on the story line, although at some points the plot gets quite slow. The story is very relatable for many as it has many common themes and feelings like loss, sadness and greed that play big parts in both this story and the rest of the series.
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