Plot Summary
This story introduces Gavner Purl, a full vampire and an old friend of Mr. Crepsley. Gavner Purl is a Vampire General. Gavner Purl is shocked to discover Darren a half-vampire. Mr. Crepsley wants to talk to Gavner Purl alone in secrecy. After the meeting, Gavner walks with Darren for a while, revealing to him that Mr. Crepsley was a Vampire General and was about to be invested as a Vampire Prince, who is a leader of the Vampire Clan. He also lets slip that Mr. Crepsley is going to leave the Cirque and finally binds Darren to secrecy regarding all these facts. A day or so later, Mr. Crepsley does inform Darren that he must leave and Darren has to accompany him to some place. He suggests that Evra can come with Darren as if on a "vacation" and to help him keep Darren out of mischief as Mr. Crepsley pointed out incidents regarding Madam Octa and Sam Grest.
They go to the city and get a disguise made for Evra and in the night while Mr. Crepsley goes out on mysterious excursions, in the day, Darren and Evra enjoy themselves. When looking for a Christmas gift for Evra, Darren comes across Debbie, a girl from the Square, where they were staying. The two begin dating and like each other very much.
After a date and a "kiss" with Debbie, when one night Darren reaches back to the hotel, he and Evra are disturbed by a news report saying that human bodies were found in a basement, drained of blood. Darren and Evra fear that it may be Mr. Crepsley, and decide to track him at night to see where he goes. When Darren thinks that he is about to go and kill a man, Darren attempts to face Mr. Crepsley and tries to stop him, but discovers that it was actually a work of a mad Vampaneze named Murlough. Murlough runs away, managing to kidnap Evra with him. Mr. Crepsley tells Darren about the Vampaneze and Murlough. He explains that the Vampaneze were a group of Vampires who split away from the clan centuries ago when the rule of no longer killing humans to feed was established, and declared themselves as a separate clan. Years of drinking too much blood has warped their appearance, resulting in them now having purple skin and red hair, nails and eyes. He then reveals to Darren that the reason why he was going to kill Murlough is because he has gone mad and is killing senselessly, and that this was his hometown as a child, before he became a Vampire. Mr. Crepsley then further goes one more about Murlough. He explains that Murlough has been roaming the world for several years. This is a feat that most mad Vampaneze don't usually achieve as they make silly mistakes which become the death of them, but Murlough is more cunning than most. Mr. Crepsley and Darren discover Evra to be missing when they come out of the abattoir where the man Murlough intending to kill was. Crepsley concludes that Evra was kidnapped by Murlough, and must have run into him when the latter escaped. Mr. Crepsley declares that Evra has been or would be killed by Murlough. Darren is devastated upon realising this.
Darren goes over to Debbie to seek some comfort. He gets invited over to her house for Christmas Eve. Debbie almost cries when she realizes that Darren might have to leave suddenly and gives him a hug. Murlough spots Darren with Debbie and sneers him about it. He reveals to Darren that Evra is alive and well and makes a deal with him, demanding for Mr. Crepsley and a release for Evra. Darren refuses. On returning, Darren tells Mr. Crepsley about Debbie, his talk with Murlough and his refusal to sell Mr. Crepsley for Evra. Mr. Crepsley is highly impressed and they begin making plans to save Evra before 25 December, the day when Murlough has promised to kill Evra.
The two venture down the sewers and Darren gets caught by the vampaneze. Darren gives Murlough a piece of his mind by telling him about the vampire laws. He then decides to trade Debbie's life for Evra's. They reach Debbie's home and room where Mr. Crepsley slays Murlough, who is tricked into killing a goat, according to Darren's plan. The dying vampaneze whispers a compliment to Darren, 'Cluh-cluh-clever buh-buh-buh boy, hmmm?'. Afterwards, Darren and Crepsley put Murlough's body in a large plastic bag, and throw him into the tunnels of blood (which Darren claims that he would be happy there), and rush-fully clean his blood off of the Hemlock's living room. Darren then asks what will happen if the other vampaneze learn that they killed Murlough. Mr. Crepsley reveals that if they do, they will hunt them to the ends of the Earth, and they will not stand a chance against them as they will send dozens to them, and Vampire Generals will not help them (they decide on not telling this to Evra to avoid causing him any worry). Fortunately, the chances are low since they have to find Murlough first. Darren decorates Debbie's Christmas tree and kisses Debbie on her forehead and wishes, 'Merry Christmas, Debbie'. Darren and Crepsley then head off to rescue Evra.
Darren O'Shaughnessy, who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is an Irish author. Darren Shan is the main character in O'Shaughnessy's The Saga of Darren Shan young adult fiction series, also known as the Cirque Du Freak series in the United States. He followed that up with The Demonata series and the stand-alone books, Koyasan and The Thin Executioner. Then came The Saga of Larten Crepsley which is a prequel to The Saga of Darren Shan and tells the life of Larten Crepsley. His next multi-book series was Zom-B and in April 2020 he started his new Archibald Lox series. Shan also writes for adults, and has published The City Book Trilogy and Lady of the Shades under the name of Darren Shan, and The Evil and the Pure, Sunburn, An Other Place, Midsummer's Bottom, and Molls Like it Hot under the name of Darren Dash.
The Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of 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 October 23, 2009. Blackstone Audio has also released CD recordings of all 12 books in the series, read by Ralph Lister.
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.
Lord Of The Shadows is the eleventh book in The Saga of Darren Shan series by the author Darren Shan. It is also the second book in the Vampire Destiny trilogy.
Cirque du Freak is the first novel in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan, published in January 2000. The story begins with Darren Shan and his best friend Steve "Leopard" Leonard visiting an illegal freak show where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly, unique spider forces them to make life-changing choices that neither of them could have ever thought possible.
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.
The Lake of Souls is the 10th book in The Saga of Darren Shan and is also the first in the 4th and final trilogy in 'The Saga' called The Vampire Destiny Trilogy. The book adds many more questions that will be answered in the final books, and introduces the character Spits Abrams. This book is the longest in the series.
Vampire Blood is the first trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by the author Darren Shan. It contains the books Cirque du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. These starting books explore how Darren must adapt to his new life, and what that entails. The first book contains the reasons why he became a half-vampire and what he had to give up in order to save his ex-best friend, as well as introducing the character. The second and third go into more detail about how he has to change and what he will never be able to do. The main theme for the whole of the trilogy is insecurity. Darren has just been changed into something hardly anyone would accept, and this, combined with the fact that he is just a child, leads into a darker and more unusual way to grow up.
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 Destiny is the fourth and final trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The trilogy included The Lake of Souls, Lord of the Shadows and Sons of Destiny. This series goes more in depth on the Lord of Shadows and the future where he rules, and Harkat's secrets of his past life are finally revealed. The main theme in the final trilogy appears to be destiny. Darren and Harket learn of the true fate of the world they know following the War of Scars, and it is revealed that both Darren and Steve are pawns to the hand of fate, in which either one of them is destined to bring destruction to the world.
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 only will 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.
Sookie Stackhouse is a fictional character and protagonist of The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series, written by Charlaine Harris. In HBO's television adaptation, True Blood, Sookie is portrayed by Anna Paquin.
Sons of Destiny is the twelfth and final book in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a 2009 American fantasy film based on the Vampire Blood trilogy of the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The film received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.
Hell's Heroes is the tenth and final book in Darren Shan's The Demonata series.
Cirque du Freak, known as The Saga of Darren Shan in the United Kingdom, is a Japanese manga series illustrated by Takahiro Arai and based on the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. Arai won a contest in which the winning manga artist would be allowed to draw the series in a manga medium. He also allowed his brother to design a scene, a few characters, and some backgrounds. The series was published in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 2006 to 2009, and a total of 12 volumes were released in Japan by Shogakukan.
"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.
"We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes" is the sixth episode of The Vampire Diaries's fourth season, premiering November 15, 2012 on The CW.
"Lost Girls" is the sixth episode of the first season of The CW television series, The Vampire Diaries and the sixth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on October 15, 2009. The episode was written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec and directed by Marcos Siega.
