Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare
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 Freakis 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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.