Darren Shan's an ordinary schoolboy, until he and his best friend Steve get tickets to the Cirque Du Freak, a bizarre freak show featuring such arcane performers as Hans Hands, Gertha Teeth, the Wolf Man and Rhamus Twobellies. In the midst of the ghoulish excitement, true terror raises its head...
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View full details for Cirque Du Freak
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Reviews for Cirque Du Freak
The Guardian
The Guardian | 06 December 2011Darren Shan is an ordinary boy who lives an ordinary life. But this all changes when he takes a trip to the Cirque Du Freak with his best mate Steve. They have a great time until Steve points out...
The Fandom Post - Manga review
The Fandom Post | 20 July 2011Yen turns in another quality release with the first volume Cirque du Freak. The cover is printed to look black and textured like leather, with the Cirque du Freak novel logo in the center. Above...
The Star Online
The Star Online | 29 March 2011***THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE MANGA***
USUALLY I do not have high expectations for adaptations – they are often bland and colourless, and fail to capture the charm and spirit of the original...
Books4Hearts
Books4Hearts | 12 January 2011Darren Shan is your average boy (I imagine around 11 or 12, it never says) who likes being with his friends, playing soccer, and messing with creepy animals like big furry spiders. His life is a...
Cirque du Freak Manga (Tiamat’s Manga Review USA)
tiamatsreviews.com | 25 May 2009
This series is one I was least looking forward to, in fact it’s on my shit list. I read the first two novels of the series some time ago and was not Impressed by it. So, the manga version was not...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Tiamat’s Manga Review USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (Teens Read Too USA)
goodreads.com | 24 April 2010
Relive the first novel in the most action-packed, fast-paced thriller of a series ever to rule the human and vampire world with this newly published CIRQUE DU FREAK manga.
The story surrounds...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Teens Read Too USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (School Library Journal USA)
schoollibraryjournal.com | 13 August 2009
Okay, I confess! There are some popular teen fiction series that I have not read. Shocking, but true. Many times it's not that I've been avoiding them because I don't want to read them, but more...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (School Library Journal USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (Manga Recon USA)
popcultureshock.com | 28 May 2009
Cirque du Freak is an excellent offering from Yen Press. Takahiro Arai’s strange-but-lovely character designs and a second half that rushes forward at a breakneck pace make Darren Shan’s tale a...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Manga Recon USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (Kuri-ousity USA)
kuri-ousity.com | 14 July 2009
While I make a habit not to judge a book by its cover, it’s still more often than not a deciding factor in the order of my ever-growing stack of books to read. In the case of Cirque Du Freak, the...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Kuri-ousity USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (Graphic Novel Reporter USA)
graphicnovelreporter.com | 24 April 2010
Cirque du Freak is a manga starring Darren Shan based on a novel of the same name written by Darren Shan. That may sound confusing, but it’s rather simple, actually. Shan (the real one, although...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Graphic Novel Reporter USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (Comic Mix USA)
comicmix.com | 15 May 2009
Some people stay in the same place their entire lives: joining the family business, marrying their childhood sweethearts, growing old in the bosom of their loved ones underneath the spreading...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (Comic Mix USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (CBR USA)
comicbookresources.com | 04 June 2009
Cirque du Freak — adapted from the young adult novels by Darren Shaw and illustrated by Takahiro Arai — is an engaging story about two young boys whose lives are forever changed by their visit to a...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (CBR USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (BSC Review USA)
bscreview.com | 01 July 2009
“My favorite things in the world are spiders!”
Spiders give me the chills. I have no idea how or why I read past the beginning of either the original book or the manga edition of this now...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (BSC Review USA)
Cirque du Freak Manga (About.com USA)
about.com (USA) | 24 April 2010
Darren and Steve are best friends who share a fascination with monsters. Then a visit to an unusual circus forces them to make heart-wrenching choices that change their lives in strange and...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak Manga (About.com USA)
Cirque du Freak (Rebecca’s Reads USA)
rebeccasreads.com | 24 April 2010
Cirque Du Freak is the wacky, chilling tale of vampires, spiders, & friendship. Author Darren Shan narrates this story of ordinary boys' lives until the day one of his friends brings a flyer to...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Rebecca’s Reads USA)
Cirque du Freak (The Observer UK)
guardian.co.uk | 22 October 2000This is a horror story that will very pleasurably curdle the blood of nine to 13-year-olds. The narrator of the story mysteriously has the same name as the author, but says: 'Everything's true in...
Cirque du Freak (Nancy Keane’s Book Talks USA)
nancykeane.com | 24 April 2010
Ever want to run faster than a deer, play soccer better than a pro, have broken bones mend themselves in a few hours, and meet interesting and amazing people and things while traveling across the...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Nancy Keane’s Book Talks USA)
Cirque du Freak (My Shelf USA)
myshelf.com | 24 April 2010
This book is reminiscent of Richard Laymon's Traveling Vampire Show, but written for a younger audience with a non-evil vampire monster, compelling characters, and a hook at the end of each...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (My Shelf USA)
Cirque du Freak (Mrs Mad’s Book-a-Rama UK)
mrsmad.com | 01 January 2000
Mrs Mad's humble opinion
9/10 Very good. I am pleased with this.
What's it about?
A teenager whose life is changed forever when he becomes involved with a freak show, an enormous spider and a...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Mrs Mad’s Book-a-Rama UK)
Cirque du Freak (MEGA In The Times UK)
MEGA [In The Times] (UK) | 24 April 2010
Harry Potter author JK Rowling rates this, and book recommendations don't come any better! Forget trapeze artists, this Cirque has Darren and Steve gawping at the bearded lady, snake-boy and...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (MEGA In The Times UK)
Cirque du Freak (Manchester Evening News UK)
Manchester Evening News (UK) | 24 April 2010
When Cirque Du Freak came out last year, hearts skipped a beat all over the country. Vampire novels don't come much scarier than this, especially since it was told from the spine-tingling...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Manchester Evening News UK)
Cirque du Freak (Mail on Sunday UK)
Mail on Sunday (UK) | 24 April 2010
The author is the central character in this brilliant Gothic fantasy. In search of thrills, Darren and his friend Steve go to a freak show. What happens next is not for the squeamish. To save...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Mail on Sunday UK)
Cirque du Freak (Locus USA)
Locus (USA) | 24 April 2010
Darren Shan is the young narrator of this young-adult dark fantasy novel, first in "The Saga of Darren Shan"; just to add a layer of complexity, Darren states in his introduction that his name...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Locus USA)
Cirque du Freak (Kids’ Turn Central USA)
kidsturncentral.com | 24 April 2010
The freak show was all I could think about last night. I tried forgetting it, but couldn't, not even when I was watching my favorite TV shows. It sounded so weird: a snake-boy, a wolf-man, a...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Kids’ Turn Central USA)
Cirque du Freak (Kids Reads USA)
kidsreads.com | 24 April 2010
If you heard that an old-fashioned "freak show" were coming to your town, showing in an old theater the middle of the night, would you be brave enough to go?
And if when you got there you saw the...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Kids Reads USA)
Cirque du Freak (Kids Book Shelf USA)
kidsbookshelf.com | 24 April 2010
When the Cirque Du Freak (Circus of Freaks) comes to town Darren and his friend Steve will do anything to go. But something happens at the show that has Darren a little freaked out, and it only...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Kids Book Shelf USA)
Cirque du Freak (Island Packet USA)
kids.islandpacket.com | 24 April 2010
Not a lot of new books enjoy the buzz surrounding "Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare" ($15.95, Little Brown & Co.). Warner Bros. is making it into a movie, more books are planned in the series,...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Island Packet USA)
Cirque du Freak (The Examiner Ireland)
examiner.ie | 12 May 2000
Darren Shan is an ordinary boy with an obsession with spiders who’s also considered to be a soccer genius in his school. But then Darren’s best friend Steve gets two tickets for Cirque du Freak....
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (The Examiner Ireland)
Cirque du Freak (The Independent UK)
THE INDEPENDENT | 24 April 2010
Darren Shan is undoubtedly a literary find for children. Still in his twenties, he has produced a genuinely original story that combines near-horror with mainly good-humoured, everyday reality....
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (The Independent UK)
Cirque du Freak (Greenman Review UK)
greenmanreview.com | 24 April 2010
I have a twelve-year old daughter who is seriously into fantasy novels. She reads everything she can by Jane Yolen, and has recently discovered Garth Nix and Nancy Farmer. Given her interest in...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Greenman Review UK)
Cirque du Freak (Funday Times UK)
Funday Times | 24 April 2010
* * * * * (5 stars)
This is the first book in the Darren Shan saga, and what a beginning it is! Darren visits a mysterious freak show that leads him on a spiralling journey into a dark world of...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Funday Times UK)
Cirque du Freak (Feo Amante USA)
feoamante.com | 24 April 2010
CIRQUE Du FREAK the first book in a series of dozens by Darren Shan reminded me of what it was like to be a kid again first getting interested in horror and stories of a macabre design. The...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Feo Amante USA)
Cirque du Freak (Fantasy Freaks Forum USA)
fantasyfreaks.org | 24 April 2010
The World
Somewhere on earth (probably Ireland) in what looks like modern times. A date is not specifically mention, nor a country, and the names used are ‘false’.
The Characters
Young Darren...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Fantasy Freaks Forum USA)
Cirque du Freak (Epinions USA)
epinions.com | 05 July 2005
The Blooding of Darren Shan: Welcome To “The Cirque Du Freak”
Jul 05 '05 (Updated Sep 17 '05)
Author's Product Rating
Product Rating: 5.0
Pros
Good introduction to the series, great read for...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Epinions USA)
Cirque du Freak (DAILY TELEGRAPH UK)
DAILY TELEGRAPH UK | 23 April 2010[...] slightly younger brothers and sisters might be drawn to Cirque Du Freak. It is a fevered tale of circus freaks, killer spiders and vampires, the author's name being that of the narrator,...
Cirque du Freak (Crowgrll’s Perch USA)
crowgrrl.com | 01 February 2005
Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare was one of the most deliciously macabre books The Crowgrrl has had a chance to sink my fangs into! The first in a collection of vampiric...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Crowgrll’s Perch USA)
Cirque du Freak (CM Magazine Canada)
CM Magazine Canada | 23 April 2010
It was a flyer, an advertising pamphlet for some sort of traveling circus. There was a picture of a wolf's head at the top. The wolf had its mouth open and saliva was dripping from its teeth. At...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (CM Magazine Canada)
Cirque du Freak (Children’s Literature USA)
Children's Literature USA | 23 April 2010
Wasting no time in setting a tone of spine-tingling horror, Darren Shan tells his readers right at the beginning, "This is a true story." Darren and his best friend, Steve, secretly buy tickets...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Children’s Literature USA)
Cirque du Freak (Books for Keeps UK)
Books for Keeps | 23 April 2010
The first title of "The Saga Of Darren Shan" (author and the "ordinary schoolboy" main character), this novel has some grand horrors, most spectacularly in the Circus itself, and it includes...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Books for Keeps UK)
Cirque du Freak (Bookloons USA)
bookloons.com | 23 April 2010
First the cover intrigues with its R. L. Stine look and 'Compelling' recommendation from J. K. Rowling. Then Darren Shan lures the reader carefully into his 'living nightmare' and builds up the...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Bookloons USA)
Cirque du Freak (Booklist USA)
Booklist | 23 April 2010
When Cirque Du Freak comes to town, Darren and his friends are obsessed with seeing the acts, which include a performing spider; spiders are a particular fascination of Darren's. It is a...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Booklist USA)
Cirque du Freak (Bella Online USA)
bellaonline.com | 23 April 2010
This has been one of the most challenging books for me to review for two reasons: First, I hate horror, especially vampire stories, and most especially stories that contain spiders. Secondly, once...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Bella Online USA)
Cirque du Freak (Barnes and Noble USA)
Barnesandnoble.com | 23 April 2010
"I loved being scared when I was little." Those are the words of Darren Shan, the young, adventurous narrator and author of Cirque Du Freak, and I understand him very well. Just like him, I grew up...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Barnes and Noble USA)
Cirque du Freak (Amazon USA)
Amazon.Com (USA) | 23 April 2010
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...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Amazon USA)
Cirque du Freak (Amazon UK)
Amazon UK | 23 April 2010
Darren Shan seems like your average boy--he likes playing football with his mates, passing notes in class and loves spiders. Then, one day, his best mate Steve gets tickets for a banned freak show...
Read full review: Cirque du Freak (Amazon UK)
Cirque du Freak (About.com USA)
About.Com (USA) | 23 April 2010Darren Shan (yes, the author named his main character after himself) is just an ordinary boy who enjoys hanging out with his three best friends. One day they stumble across an invitation to visit...
Room On The Shelf
Room On The Shelf | 05 April 2010Darren Shan and his friends are just looking for a fun adventure, a forbidden circus held in the dead of night. But when Darren decides to steal a vampire's pet, he discovers the consequences...
Manga Recon
Manga Recon | 28 May 2009THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE MANGA ADAPTATION OF CIRQUE DU FREAK.
Cirque du Freak is an excellent offering from Yen Press. Takahiro Arai’s strange-but-lovely character designs and a second half...
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