I was pleased when I got an email a few weeks back notifying me that one of my books had been chosen for a Wiki article about YA horror books. But when I clicked through, I was less pleased to note that the book they'd chosen was City Of The Snakes, the third book of my The City trilogy -- which were written and published for adults.

https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/11-terrifying-horror-books-for-young-adults-5Ldre8ZDP968Y

I'm very proud of my City books, and they have a strong cult following among my older fans, but I certainly wouldn't class them as YA books. I mean, sure, they'd be fine for readers at the older end of that spectrum, e.g. 17 or 18 years old, but I wouldn't really recommend them for a 13 or 14 year old. (Although I do appreciate that every reader is unique, and I've no problem with children who read ahead of their normal age range -- I was big into Stephen King and other horror writers for adults when I was 13 or 14, so it would be hypocritical of me to tut at others who have followed in my reading footsteps.)

I never wanted to publish for children/teens and adults under the same name. I argued strongly with my publishers not to release my adult fiction under the Darren Shan brand (for a while they compromised by releasing them under the D B Shan name), but they convinced me to let them do it, promising that my books for older readers would never wind up in the children's or YA sections in book shops and libraries, or feature on lists like this one. Time has proven me right and them wrong, which is why these days I release my books for adults under the name of Darren Dash. I don't try to hide my other pseudonym -- I'm happy to mention the Dash books on my Darren Shan web site and in Facebook posts -- but I think it's much clearer this way, i.e. anything that comes out under the Darren Dash name is intended for grown-up readers. The City trilogy and Lady of the Shades retain the Darren Shan name on their covers, but my plan is for everything for adults from The Evil And The Pure onwards to come out under the Dash name.

If you're interested in checking out my latest work for adults, you can learn more about them over on http://www.darrendashbooks.com -- I hope you enjoy my non-YA work, if you're of a suitable age -- just don't go mixing them up with my Darren Shan novels and buying them for your favourite 12 year old!!! :-)