By: Darren Shan

The theme of this book is very suspenseful and keeps you

reading, it makes everything seem normal and all just fine, it also gives sidle hints her and there.

“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 performing spider. I was especially excited by the spider...."

This also gives you a creepy feeling inside, you know

something’s going to happen eventually but nothing interesting

happens then BANG! It happens! “Madam Octa lowered her head, quick as a snake, and sank

her poison-tipped fangs deep into his neck!” this quote shows the

dangers and suspense that the book has and is filled with. “You’ve been waiting for me, haven’t you”

This shows the hints along the way and also the situation

spiraling.\ “I don't like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know

this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity

arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me.” This shows the emotion and gives you an insite on what he is

going through and how serious he is.

Author’s opinion

The author of this book had one idea and one idea only, to try and

convince me that vampires ARE real. He does this to engrave us into the

pages and to keep us reading and reading, on and on, until we get to the next

book. Darren Shan does a great job of this; he knows how to consume us

into believing what we read is real, so real that we think about it when we

don’t have the book in front of us. The way he pulls us in is how he uses

urban legends and myths that we have all heard of, such as vampires will

dissolve in sunlight or the are afraid of garlic, we have all heard those and

can set our mind to that certain subject and pull us in.

This book is about an average teenager named Darren

Shan, Darren and a couple of friends find a flyer about a

freak show. They all want to go and randomly select who

gets to go. The two who end up going were Steve and

Darren. As they went they thought nothing of it and

continued until Steve, recognized one of the performers

from one of his vampire books. That is what started the

whole thing, after the show Steve wanted the performer

(Mr. Crepsley) to turn him into a vampire. He would have

but Steve’s blood was evil! Darren had heard every word of

this and kept his distance from Steve. The vampire had

performed with a spider that was almost magical and

Darren had to have it. He had decided too steal it, this was

a mistake because it will later bite Steve and nearly kill

him. The only way to save him was to become a vampire’s

assistant.