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Generally, when
a film director
yells: "Cut!",
any blood to be
mopped up is of
the tomato
ketchup variety
rather than your
genuine O
Positive. But
let children's
horror maestro
Darren Shan on
to the set and
anything can
happen. In his
latest novel,
when actors,
film crews and
the usual camp
followers turn
up at the
abandoned
village of
Slawter, they
believe they are
there to make a
horror movie in
which humans
take on and
overcome an army
of demons and
monsters.
With Shan
however, nothing
is quite as it
seems, even his
name. Originally
Darren O'
Shaughnessy, a
London-born
Irishman, he
deliberately
truncated it
nine years ago
when he started
writing horror
for children,
lest young fans
should try to
seek out his
darker adult
work. Though 33,
he has a plump
boyish face that
skilfully
conceals the
tongue stuck
firmly in his
cheek. The idea
for Slawter, the
third of his
Demonata series,
came to him
during a visit
to the Harry
Potter film set.
(Daniel
Radcliffe is a
Shan fan and
Darren and Jo
Rowling share an
agent,
Christopher
Little. ) "I
wondered what
would happen if
I set a horror
story on a film
set, " says the
selfconfessed
movie fanatic
who boasts a
collection of
nearly 4000
videos and DVDs.
The result is a
cross between an
adolescent
Stephen King and
a merciless
spoof on the
Hollywood
blockbuster.
Both genres
dwell on the
interface
between illusion
and reality, so
there are plenty
of opportunities
for macabre
double takes. A
mime artist
screams silently
as he dies. A
scene in which a
young bit part
actor is dragged
away by a
monster has the
watching crowd
screaming in
terror then
laughing to
cover their
embarrassment.
"They've
remembered -
this is
makebelieve,
horrific fun, a
movie." But is
it or have they
been caught up
in a reality
show that would
dwarf even the
crassness of Big
Brother? At the
climax of the
book we are
confronted with
dozens of
monsters
"spitting bile,
oozing pus and
blood,
screeching and
howling with
malicious glee",
as they embark
on a killing
spree. And kids
will lap it up.
Why? "It's that
jolt of fear you
get on a roller
coaster. Scary
but fun. It
seems very
dangerous but
really it's
quite safe.
Reading is the
same. It takes
them out of
themselves and
at the end of
the scream, they
can laugh at
it." Though
Shan's books are
more about
action than
character
development,
children
identify easily
with figures
like the bulky,
clumsy,
decidedly
unheroic Grubbs
Grady, who
appreciates the
home comforts of
scrambled eggs
and hot
chocolate
between bouts of
terrifying
combat with Lord
Loss, who has
writhing snakes
where his heart
should be.
Behind all the
comic gore,
there is a
serious point,
says Shan: "You
may not come
home and find
your family has
been slaughtered
by demons [as
Grubbs does in
the first book
in the series]
but they might
die in a car
crash and you'd
have to put your
life back
together. I like
to get children
thinking about
death. These
days people live
a lot longer and
not many
children die, so
most children
have never been
exposed to it. I
want to help
them deal with
it."
Yet, though his
books never
promise a happy
ending, they are
far from bleak.
Like the rites
of passage his
young readers
have embarked
upon, they are
about children
having the
courage and
confidence to
confront their
demons.
Shan's work also
always retains a
strong moral
framework. In
Slawter, he is
withering about
those who seek
to present
suffering as
entertainment or
even art and
those who
consume it.
"We're coming
full circle,
back to the era
when crowds
flocked to the
Colosseum to
watch Christians
being thrown to
the lions. I
believe that in
our lifetime,
we'll see a
reality show
where someone
dies. People
love seeing
people suffer."
By contrast,
Shan's central
characters live
by a strict code
of conduct that
abhors
gratuitous
violence. "I
like the idea of
living a good
life that is so
important for
the Samurai and
the Celts - the
next book in the
Demonata series
is based on
Celtic mythology
and set in
Ireland. In
Arnie
Schwarzenegger
movies people
are killed
right, left and
centre but,
apart from
demons, I never
try to set up
anyone as such a
bad guy that
it's OK to kill
them."
This is a clue
as to why Shan
is so popular
with
librarians.His
first children's
manuscript
(Cirque du Freak
about a boy who
is half-
vampire) was
rejected by many
publishers
before being
taken by
HarperCollins
because many
believed that
teachers and
librarians would
object to it and
kill the series.
There's a
teasing
reference to
this in Slawter
when Grubbs
lightly rebukes
his Uncle
Dervish with:
"You'll scar me
for life with
stories like
that". In fact,
librarians loved
Shan because
here was the
pacy,
well-written
horror story,
whose heroes
demonstrated
loyalty and
moral integrity.
It was just what
they'd been
looking for to
wean kids off
Goosebumps and
Point Horror.
Most of all,
though, the same
playground
version of the
bush telegraph
that was
originally the
key to JK
Rowling's
success, worked
for Shan too. In
fact, a certain
post-Potter
fatigue with
witches and
wizards may have
helped clear the
way for the
biggest
resurgence in
children's
horror since
Roald Dahl.
Shan's 12-part
quasi-autobiographical
Saga of Darren
Shan has sold 10
million
worldwide.
The consequent
riches have not
had much impact
on his
phenomenal work
rate. He
continues to
write the
equivalent of
ten pages a day,
five days a
week, while
enjoying life
with girlfriend
Helen and
following his
beloved
Tottenham
Hotspur.
Meanwhile, the
screen rights
for the first
three vampire
books have been
optioned by
Universal
Pictures and a
script has been
commissioned. Is
there a futures
market for fake
blood? On second
thoughts, what
about a contact
for the Blood
Transfusion
Service?
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