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As a master of
horror,
Darren Shan
regularly serves
up
a diet of gore
and
entrails,
corpses on slabs
and
more werewolves,
demons
and vampires
than you can
toss a lump of
garlic at.
His books have
been outsold
in the UK only
by
Stephen King and
Dean Koontz. Yet
what sets this
man apart is
that his grisly
stories are
being lapped up
by a playground
audience.
Darren will be
in
Bournemouth on
Sunday to
launch the sixth
title in his
hugely
successful The
Demonata series.
Fame came soon
after he
wrote his first
children's
book, Cirque Du
Freak. The
horror tale
about a boy who
meets a vampire
at a circus
was the first of
a 12-book
series, The Saga
of Darren
Shan, which
attracted a cult
following around
the world.
To date, Darren
Shan (short
for Darren
O'Shaughnessey)
has sold 10
million books
translated into
more than 27
languages and
read in more
than 34
countries. The
rights
to the first
three books have
been bought by
Universal
with a film
currently in
pre-production
stage.
Little wonder he
sounds chirpy.
Speaking from
his
home in Ireland,
he is also
remarkably
relaxed
considering his
forthcoming touring
schedule. "Now
that's
REALLY scary",
he laughs.
He speaks of
fame as if it
was something he
just stumbled
upon.
"I never thought
I'd make a
career out of
children's
books," he
admits.
"I was an adult
author and
I wrote my first
book for
children as a
bit of fun -
something
for myself on
the side. I
remembered what
I was like when
I was younger
and the sort of
books I wanted
to
read back then."
Understandable,
then, that
he assumed his
only audience
would be male,
but on
tour he often
notices the
girls
outnumbering the
boys.
Clamouring for a
slice of
his macabre
imagination are
fans from a wide
age range, but
the majority are
youngsters
between 10 and
16.
Darren puts his
success
down to his
"complex,
involved
characters",
plus an
easy-to-read,
almost economical,
script.
"An adult
audience provokes
freer writing.
You can be more
morally
ambiguous
and can explore
grey areas
further. For
younger readers,
things have to
be made a little
clearer, without
resorting
to lecturing.
Take right and
wrong for
example. Your
good guys always
have to be
good."
He is constantly
ready to
fend off a
barrage of complaints
which never
really have
materialised.
Surprising
considering
some of his
scenes cut very
close to the
bone for so
young an
audience.
"But my books
aren't all
about blood and
gore," he
argues. "At
their heart they
explore
relationships
and
feelings. Like
any genre of
writing, you
have to develop
characters and
make people care
about them.
I get very few
letters saying
my readers have
nightmares
but lots saying
my
books made them
cry."
But there's no
escaping his
affinity with
the dark side.
"I do like
horror," he
adds,
giving a long,
low chuckle
when I remind
him of his
monikers - King
of the Gory
Story, Stephen
King for Kids
and Number One
Master of
Horror.
"I'm very happy
to wear the
horror cap, yes.
Some of the best
stories ever
written have
been horror
stories. Take
Macbeth,
for example. To
this day
people will not
class it as
horror."
His new book,
What The Hell's
Coming Next?, is
the
sixth in The
Demonata series.
Despite details
being kept very
much under
wraps, he will
divulge that
it follows on
from book
five, which
ended on a huge
cliffhanger.
"I hope it will
be a real
fan pleaser as
it ties up a
lot of
storylines woven
throughout the
previous novels
in the series."
Even the
deliciously
ghoulish image
on the cover
is still a
secret just days
before the
launch. The big
reveal will take
place at Bath on
Saturday,
and straight
after in
Bournemouth on
Sunday.
"The details
probably won't
be on my website
by then, so
Bournemouth fans
will be
among the first
in the whole
world to see
what's on the
cover."
And no doubt be
champing
at the bit to
find out,
indeed,
what the hell's
coming next...
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