Note: I promise this is definitely the final vampire book featured in this editorial! I planned to review this book completely on the fly when I went to my Dad's local library and saw that this book from my high school years was available. Originally, the review was going to be on Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, but I put it on the back burner for the sequel to this editorial due to my undying passion to reread this book again. I promise it was not intentional!

In the two vampire books I had previously reviewed, Twilight by Stephanie Meyers and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, I mentioned my stance briefly in each about how vampire lore should be expressed in fiction.  To summarize it without the issue taking up an editorial of its own, I love the older, more tragic version of the vampire lore invented near the time of Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Vampires are in my opinion meant to be depicted as fearsome creatures of the night.  They always hide in the shadows, only making themselves present to whoever is next on their menu.  Although the allure of immortality sounds great on paper, with it comes the cost of loneliness and even the loss of sanity as one by one everyone around you dies.  Twilight to me for this reason was not that enjoyable for me, though I do give the author points for trying to reinvent the vampire lore in a creative way.  The vampires there to me are too perfect and taking away one of the most important elements of vampire lore, death by sunlight, was a stake to the heart for more inventive possibilities for the story.  (Not to mention, I feel the story has flat main characters.)  Meanwhile, Interview with the Vampire brought me back to the best parts of the older vampire lore with a few changes to the lore that just made the vampires work better as characters.  The vampires there are both horror and tragic figures who you cannot help but be attracted to.  While one tried to turn vampires into romanticized figures, another tried to make vampires into tragic but alluring figures.  They are complete opposites of the spectrum when it comes to vampire lore.  Neither of them are outright terrible, but if I had to choose one to read again, it would easily be Interview with the Vampire.

  I had thought for the longest time that Interview with the Vampire was the only vampire book I was ever going to find that reminded me of the older days when vampires were a feared horror figure.  I had believed that not long after the publication of the novel, vampires slowly but surely were reinvented as the romantic figures most see them as today.  However, that is not entirely true.  While most books followed that trend, others stayed close to the original vampire lore.  Although few and far between, these novels were beloved by millions for being gutsy in delivering the horror aspect other novels failed to do.  One notable example is Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot, where the vampires were nightmare fuel that could easily give a child nightmares.  Another is a book I had read in high school, but completely forgot about until now.  That novel is the one I am going over in this part of the editorial; Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare... by Darren Shan.

  To describe the premise of Darren Shan's book would be a mixture of the horror infested stories about freak shows and the rare character derailment of one boy as mistake after mistake leads him closer to misery.  That boy is the story's main protagonist, coincidentally called by the same name of the author, Darren Shan.  After making the risky move of going to an underground freak show, Cirque Du Freak, with his best friend Steve Leonard, things start turn for the worst.  After his friend happens to recognize a vampire from one of his old books, Mr. Crepsley, he confronts him so he'll make him a vampire.  Darren happens to witness this out of curiosity and is startled to see the vampire reject Steve after claiming his blood was bad, a sign he was destined for evil.  This makes Darren wary of his friend, which haunts him for the rest of the book.  Having a love for spiders, he steals the special one Mr. Crepsley used in his performance, Madame Octa, using the information that its original owner was a vampire against him.  The spider ends up losing control one day and injects a poison into Steve (who had come over Darren's house during the weekend) that no doctor is able to identify.  The only way to get the cure to save Steve's life is by making a deal with the vampire; become his vampire assistant in exchange for the antidote to save Steve.  Darren originally tries to run away from his new responsibility, but his vampire instincts start taking over, forcing him to return to Mr. Crepsley.  To start his new life as a vampire assistant fully, Darren is forced to fake his death, leaving his family in misery.  On top of that, Steve realizes Darren is not dead and falsely makes the conclusion he backstabbed him to become Mr. Crepsley's vampire assistant.  After attempting to kill Darren, Steve swears to hunt him down to the ends of the Earth as an adult in order to exact revenge.  As a result of this huge mess, Darren lost his family, his home, his best friend, and finally his humanity.  For his slew of mistakes, Darren is doomed to a life in the shadows as a vampire forever.

  I admire Darren Shan's (the author) risk in making a novel in which the character's mistakes ultimately lead to their downfall.  In most vampire focused books today, you do not see this trope done very often.  Instead, it is all about romance.  This book to me is a return to form for the vampire lore as well as a stern cautionary tale about why being made a vampire is never a good thing at all.  You are doomed to a life in the shadows, and in order to live this life you have to abandon everything you care dearly for.  Is that worth immortality?  Many authors who romanticize vampire say yes.  In the eyes of author Darren Shan and myself, it is not worth the despair you are doomed to witness.  Cirques Du Freak: A Living Nightmare is labeled a horror novel for a reason.

  Besides the great vampire lore this classic beautifully goes over, it is a read that could easily be finished in a few days.  The wording is quite simple for less experienced readers to easily get into rhythm with, making the reading experience much less stressful.  For an experienced reader, it is a fun cakewalk.  It took me truthfully only a day to finish this novel and I am happy I decided to commit myself so much to it.  I highly recommend this book for all readers, young and old.  It might have a dark premise, but I promise you it is very addictive.