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AUTHOR DARREN
SHAN’S FIRST
NOVEL, CIRQUE
DU FREAK, IS
OUT. AND IT’S
GOT "MONSTER"
WRITTEN ALL OVER
IT…
There can’t be
many first time
authors who get
a recommendation
from the great J
K Rowling on
their book
jacket. But the
Harry Potter
creator has
called
27-year-old
Darren Shan’s
Cirque Du Freak
"compelling".
And the book
that’s captioned
"A living
nightmare" looks
like it could
win just as many
fans as the boy
wizard from
Hogwarts.
Already a storm
of controversy
is brewing over
Cirque Du
Freak. It’s
a tale of an
ordinary
schoolboy called
– spooky
coincidence –
Darren Shan, who
gets caught up
in a macabre and
creepy twilight
world with his
best friend
Steve.
It’s inhabited
by the kind of
creatures you
wouldn’t
normally see
outside a film
set: expect
vampires, a
bearded lady,
the snake boy
and a deadly
performing
spider called
Madam Octa.
Enid Blyton it’s
not, and the
plot has enough
nasty surprises
to make
Goosebumps
seem tame. But
Darren is
adamant the book
doesn’t exploit
"freaks".
"When you think
of a freak show,
you think of
people with
disabilities
being ogled and
laughed at and
being made into
a spectacle,"
explains Darren.
"But this book
celebrates them.
All the freaks
in this are
magical beings
who can do
things ordinary
humans can’t."
Darren (whose
real surname is
O’Shaughnessy)
was born in
London, although
he now lives in
Limerick,
Ireland, where
he moved when he
was six. He was
fascinated by
horror from an
early age. "When
I was about five
I used to have a
big poster of
Dracula on my
bedroom wall. I
remember waking
up and seeing
Drac leering
down at me. I
loved being
scared as a
child, loved
that creepy
feeling. In real
life you have
worries, but in
fantasy you have
scares. I really
enjoy that."
Darren looks
like he just
stepped out of
the Manic Street
Preachers so
it’s no surprise
to find that he
listened to the
Manics and
Radiohead while
he wrote his
dark
unpredictable
tale — or that
he’s a fan of
horror movies.
"When I was 15
or 16 I was a
real horror
buff. I used to
watch some
terrible films.
Some eighties
stuff like
Ghoulies."
He winces.
"Really bad."
The question is
though: will
Cirque Du Freak
scare or shock
its readers? "I
don’t think it
will shock
anyone — a few
parents maybe.
Quite a few
people told me
they nearly
cried at certain
points because
they really like
Darren and
Steve.
"It’s not a book
that sets out to
be frightening
for the sake of
it. Dark things
happen, but they
happen for a
reason, and
there are
definitely
repercussions."
Darren already
has a fairly
good idea that
the story will
be a big hit.
When he
completed his
first draft, he
asked his mother
(who’s a
teacher) to
recruit some
guinea pigs from
her school to
read what he had
written and
complete a
questionnaire.
"They loved it,"
Darren says
modestly. And to
questions such
as "Did you
think it was too
scary?" the
response was
overwhelming.
"They wrote:
"Put in more
blood!" "More
gore!" and "Make
it darker".
"One pupil liked
it so much, he’s
already been
nagging my
mother for the
next
instalment."
He won’t have
long to wait.
Darren has
planned 24 –
yes, 24 – parts
to the saga.
"I’ve just
finished book
eight," says the
author. And like
J K Rowling, who
has already
mapped out her
seven-part
Harry Potter
series, he has
the plot to all
24 parts worked
out in his head.
But just how did
he persuade the
world’s hottest
author to
recommend his
first novel?
Darren gives a
sly smile that
would chill any
vampire’s heart.
"I threatened to
set Madam Octa
on her if she
didn’t like it."
I look at him
sideways.
Something tells
me Darren may
not be joking… |
