Plot
In Cirque Du Freak two best friends, Darren Shan, and Steve "Leopard" Leonard go to see the Cirque Du Freak, an illegal and mysterious freak show. They see many amazing events and "freaks", along with Larten Crepsley, who has a performing spider as well. Steve recognizes Mr. Crepsley as a vampire, and after telling Darren to go home without him, corners Mr. Crepsley and demands he be turned into a vampire in exchange for keeping Mr. Crepsley's identity a secret. Mr. Crepsley unwillingly tastes Steve's blood, but Mr. Crepsley says it's evil blood, and rejects Steve, who promises when he grows up, he'll kill Mr. Crepsley and become a vampire hunter. Darren, who was watching this, unbeknownst to Steve and Mr. Crepsley, tries to avoid Steve from then on, thinking Steve is really evil. A few days later, Darren goes to the Cirque Du Freak, and steals Madam Octa, Mr. Crepsley's performing spider, because of his love for spiders, and also steals a flute that controls Madam Octa. As long as Darren is playing the flute, he can control the dangerous spider. However, when Steve visits, he and Darren play with Madam Octa, who bites Steve when Darren loses concentration when his sister, Annie, comes into the room. Steve is poisoned and sent to the hospital (Darren told only Annie about Madam Octa and that she's poisonous) and the doctors can do nothing. Darren goes to Mr. Crepsley and begs him for an antidote to save his best friend, and they make a deal: Darren becomes a half vampire, and Mr. Crepsley gives him the antidote. Mr. Crepsley and Darren give Steve the antidote, and later turns Darren into a half vampire. Darren finds living his normal life as a vampire impossible, as he apparently ages much slower than normal kids and cannot control his thirst for blood, as when he accidentally attacks one of his friends and licks the blood off his scraped knee. Darren then tries living with his family, but isn't capable of this, after almost killing Annie. He returns to Mr. Crepsley. In order to avoid explaining his becoming a vampire to his family and friends; as well as not merely running away for that would keep the family in hopes he would return, Darren fakes his death. Mr. Crepsley breaks Darren's neck (which does no harm) and throws Darren off Darren's own house. Later, Mr. Crepsley unburies Darren from his coffin, and takes him to be The Vampire's Assistant, however before this happens, Steve finds out about Darren being a vampire, and tells him he'll kill "Creepy" Crepsley and Darren, along with all other vampires.
In The Vampire's Assistant Darren Shan and his vampire mentor, Mr. Crepsley, have gone back to the Cirque Du Freak, where Darren makes friends with Evra Von, a freak who has certain snake like traits. Later, Darren and Evra meet and befriend Sam Grest, and later Reggie Veggie (R.V.). R.V. is a nice, earth-loving person. However, Reggie Veggie soon learns that the freaks are feeding on animals. Darren tries to tell Mr. Tall, the circus owner, but is always interrupted and soon forgets. However, he finally tells Mr. Tall, and the Cirque moves the location, when Reggie threatens to call the police. A few days later, the Cirque is performing; Darren, however, is not performing. He goes to investigate, when he hears a noise near the wolfman's cage. Reggie is there trying to free the wolfman, whom he believes to be a trapped animal, when the wolfman bites off Reggie's hands, and kills Sam. Mr. Crepsley tells Darren that if a vampire drains a human of blood, the vampire would keep a part of the person's spirit with them. Darren willingly drinks blood for the first time to keep part of Sam's spirit alive.
In Tunnels of Blood (set in the month of December), a vampire named Gavner visits Mr. Crepsley, and soon Darren, Evra, and Mr. Crepsley travel to what later is revealed to be Mr. Crepsley's birth city. Mr. Crepsley disappears several times for what Darren and Evra presume to be business, so they act as if they are on holiday. Later, Darren is looking for a Christmas present for Evra when he meets Debbie Hemlock, a girl whom he likes, and the two soon begin dating. Darren and Evra, later, see a news report about dead bodies being found, but dry of blood; they suspect it is Mr. Crepsley and secretly follow him. Believing they are about to stop a murder, they ambush Mr. Crepsley as he was watching a man. However, it turns out the real murderer was a vampaneze (a kind of creature that is like a vampire in every way except they always kill the human they feed on, and have a purple tinge to their skin as a result of the amount of blood they drink) named Murlough, who kidnaps Evra. Mr. Crepsley and Darren set off to the sewers where Darren wanders off in a fit. He is soon kidnapped by Murlough, as a deal is made to trade with Murlough: Debbie for Evra. Later, Darren and Murlough go to Debbie's house, where Murlough mistakenly attacks what he believes to be Debbie, only to find out he was set up. Mr. Crepsley soon appears and, after a short fight, kills Murlough. It is soon revealed that Darren had drugged Debbie and her family and planned all of this with Mr. Crepsley after Murlough's demise. Before departing from Debbie forever, Darren decorates the Christmas tree in her room as he heads back to rescue Evra.
Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), inspired by a story told to him by Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire (1847); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire, Carmilla (1872), and the most well known: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Some authors created a more "sympathetic vampire", with Varney being the first, and more recent examples such as Moto Hagio's series The Poe Clan (1972–1976) and Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire (1976) proving influential.
Blade is a fictional character and antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character, but he later went on to star in his own storylines. Devoting his life to ridding the world of all vampires, Blade utilizes his unique physiology to become the perfect vampire hunter. While originally depicted as a human immune to vampire bites, Blade was retroactively established to be a dhampir following his adaptation as such in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade film series. He is the father of Brielle "Bri" Brooks (Bloodline).
The Tomb of Dracula is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces. On rare occasions, Dracula would work with these vampire hunters against a common threat or battle other supernatural threats on his own, but more often than not, he was the antagonist rather than protagonist. In addition to his supernatural battles in this series, Marvel's Dracula often served as a supervillain to other characters in the Marvel Universe, battling the likes of Blade the Vampire Slayer, Spider-Man, the Werewolf, the X-Men, Howard the Duck, and the licensed Robert E. Howard character Solomon Kane.
Darren O'Shaughnessy is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata, and Zom-B, published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former was adapted into a manga series from 2006 to 2009 as well as a live-action film in 2009, with a prequel series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, being released from 2010 to 2012.
Morbius is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by penciler Gil Kane, he debuted as a tragic, sympathetic adversary of the superhero Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #101. For years, Morbius frequently clashed with Spider-Man and other superheroes while occasionally regaining his reason and helping those he regarded as allies. The 1992 Marvel Comics "Rise of the Midnight Sons" crossover event then revived and revised several horror-themed Marvel characters to present them as lead protagonists in new titles. The event launched the new series Morbius the Living Vampire, which ran from 1992 to 1995 and now presented the title character as a lethal anti-hero and vigilante. After the cancellation of this series, various stories shifted back and forth between portraying Morbius as a conflicted and brutal anti-hero or a tragic character subject to episodes of madness and murder.
The Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren O'Shaughnessy about the struggle of Darren Shan, a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book has been published in 33 countries around the world, in 30 different languages. A film based on the first three books in the series was released in theatres on 23 October 2009. Blackstone Audio has also released CD recordings of all 12 books in the series, read by Ralph Lïster.
"Beauty and the Beasts" is the fourth episode of season three of the horror-drama television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by Marti Noxon, directed by James Whitmore, Jr., and first broadcast on The WB on October 20, 1998.
Tunnels of Blood is the third novel of twelve in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. In this book, the history of the vampires is explained to a small bit, and introduces the clan of the Vampaneze, which will become one of the major focuses of the story. It is also the final book of the Vampire Blood trilogy and where Darren's loyalty and trust in Mr. Crepsley is put to the test.
Trials of Death is the fifth book in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It is part of the Vampire Rites Trilogy, consisting of books four through six in the 12-book saga. It was first published by Collins in the United Kingdom in 2001, and in the United States in 2003.
Allies of the Night is the eighth book of The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It is part of the Vampire War trilogy, which comprises three books: Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn. Allies of the Night was first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins in 2002. It was then published in the Vampire War Trilogy in 2005.
Vampire Rites is the second trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. It contains the books Vampire Mountain, Trials of Death and The Vampire Prince. This trilogy involves more of the various vampire characters, and their beliefs and customs. This trilogy's main theme is religion, compared to the previous one, it brings a whole new take on the vampire way of life and shows the kinder, better side of the vampires involved. These books show a more relaxed character of Darren Shan towards the more gruesome aspects of vampire life.
Vampire War is the third trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It contains the novels Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn. This trilogy continues the war between vampires and vampaneze. Mr Tiny forms a group of three "hunters" - Darren Shan, Mr Crepsley and new character Vancha March, a Vampire Prince who lives in the wild and follows the old vampire traditions, and has unusually pink skin from staying out in the sun too long. Also, Lady Evanna, who may or may not be a witch, comes along with them. She tells Darren that either he or the Vampaneze Lord will be the Lord of Shadows. But instead of that being on his mind: he will only have four opportunities to kill the Vampaneze Lord, or else the vampires will be destroyed. But there is a gruesome twist involving the Vampaneze Lord and Darren's childhood friend, Steve "Leopard" Leonard, who is the dreaded Vampaneze Lord himself.
Natalie Osborne is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Tiffany Mulheron. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 23 May 2003. Mulheron made her final appearance as Natalie during the episode broadcast on 24 August 2004.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a 2009 American fantasy film directed by Paul Weitz and co-screenplay adapted with Brian Helgeland, loosely based on the Vampire Blood trilogy of the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The first three books in the 12-part series—Cirque du Freak, The Vampire’s Assistant, and Tunnels of Blood—inspired the film. The film received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.
Christopher Paul Massoglia is an American actor and a city council member for Blaine, Minnesota.
Yusuke Yamamoto is a Japanese actor and DJ. He was born in Aichi, Japan. His debut role was as Tsurugi Kamishiro, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Sasword, in Kamen Rider Kabuto.
Cirque du Freak, known as The Saga of Darren Shan in Japan, is a Japanese manga series illustrated by Takahiro Arai and based on the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The series was published in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 2006 to February 2009, with its chapters compiled in twelve tankōbon volumes.
"Whatever I Am, You Made Me" is the third episode of the fifth season of HBO's television series True Blood and 51st episode overall. First aired on June 24, 2012, it was written by Raelle Tucker and directed by David Petrarca.
