Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
First Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2000

Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy, he likes playing football with his mates, passing notes in class and loves spiders. -- until he gets an invitation to visit the Cirque du Freak! And suddenly Darren starts experiencing things that no average boy would dream of. At the Freak show he sees a limb-chewing wolf man, he meets Madame Octa, and he comes face-to-face with a creature of the night!

Soon, Darren and his friend Steve are caught in a deadly trap. Darren must make a bargain with the one person who can save Steve. But that person is not human and only deals in blood…..

Cirque du Freak is Darren Shan's first novel and the first in a series highlighting Darren's adventures and misadventures.

Cirque Du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood, are the first three books in The Saga of Darren Shan on which the movie THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT is based.

At last, the internationally successful vampire series is coming to the big screen in 2009. The much-anticipated film adaptation of the first three titles is coming to cinemas on October 23rd.