Cirque+Du+Freak

__ Cirque du Freak __ By   Nate Cratty __Cirque du Freak__, a novel by Darren Shan, is set in a small city in the mid 1900’s. The main character’s name is also Darren Shan. He has three best friends Steve Leopard, Tommy Jones, and Alan Morris. The story starts when Alan brings a piece of paper at school. The piece of paper is for an illegal freak show, The Cirque du Freak. All the boys want to go. When Steve goes to buy the tickets he learns that only two are left. When he tells all the others they decide to let Steve go and the last ticket would be thrown up into the air along with a bunch of paper. Darren closes his eyes and felt something and then closed his hand. He opened his hand and sure enough the ticket was there. Darren decides to go to Steve’s house on the day of the show. They decide to go to go to Steve’s house because Steve and his mom don’t get along and she wouldn’t bother them. They go to an old theater where Steve bought the tickets but can’t find the show. Suddenly a man comes behind and leads them to the show. There were nine acts, Sive and Seersa, twins who were contortionists. There was The Snake Boy, a boy who could control snakes. Then there was Gertha Teeth a lady who had the strongest teeth in the world, Alexander ribs a very skinny contortionist, and The Bearded Lady whose beard was extremely hard. There was also Hans Hands, a man who could beat a man in a race using his hands, and Rhamus Twobellies, a man who could eat anything. Finally there was Larten Crepsley and his spider Madame Octa, a man who could make his spider dance using just a flute. When Steve saw Larten Crepsley he suddenly went pale. Darren asked what was wrong and Steve said he knew who Mr. Crepsley really was and told him they could be in trouble if Larten knew what he knew. After the show Steve tells Darren to go home while he stays behind. Darren follows anyway and sees Steve and Mr. Crepsley talking. Steve tells him that he knows that Crepsley is a vampire. Larten asks what he wants and Steve tells him that he also wants to be a vampire. Larten tastes his blood and tells him that he can’t be a vampire. Steve doesn’t like this and tells him that he will vow revenge and become a vampire hunter. All Sunday Darren was thinking about how cool Madame Octa was. On Monday Darren told Alan about Madame Octa. While talking Darren said that anyone with a brain could control her. After saying this he decides to steal the spider. Darren chooses to go on Tuesday because the last show is on that day. That day while Mr. Crepsley is sleeping Darren steals the spider. While he has the spider Darren teaches her a lot of tricks with his flute. His soccer skills and brain smarts improve with Madame Octa, but then everything goes wrong. One day Steve comes over to hang out. Steve and Darren work everything out between the vampire scene, and become friends again. Darren then tells Steve about Madame Octa. Darren showed him a few tricks and even let Steve put the spider on him. While the spider was on Steve’s neck, Annie, Darren’s younger sister, goes into his room. Annie screamed and Darren dropped his flute. The spider then became frightened and bit into Steve’s neck. The spider’s bite wasn’t poisonous, but it did paralyze him. Darren told Annie not to tell their mom, but ended up telling her anyway. At the hospital Darren lied and said he didn’t know what happened to Steve. The doctors can’t figure out how Steve became like this and Steve’s mother is horrified. At home Darren threw Madame Octa out the window and saw Mr. Crepsley reach out and grab her. Steve isn’t doing better and Darren decides to go to Larten to find a cure for the medicine. When he finds him he asks how to cure Steve’s illness. Mr. Crepsley tells him that the only way to make Steve better is for Darren to become a vampire. Darren accepts and he and Mr. Crepsley go through a long vampire ritual. That night they go and give Steve the medicine to make him better. At school Darren is awesome on the soccer field because of his vampire powers. When Alan falls Darren drinks his blood on his cut and Steve notices that Darren is a vampire. At home Darren almost drank Annie’s blood and decides to go talk to Mr. Crepsley. Mr. Crepsley tells Darren that he must leave his home and live with him. Darren spends a day with his family and friends and then gets ready to stage his death. Mr. Crepsley gives Darren a bottle of something to make him seem dead and not feel anything. Then he snapped Darren’s neck and threw him out the window. A neighbor saw him and told his parents. His mom and neighbor went inside and called for an ambulance. Everyone said goodbye to Darren and he was buried. After being buried Mr. Crepsley dug him up. Darren stood up and walked around a little before Steve stood in front of him and held a wooden cross in his hand. Steve told Darren that he was vampire hunting, but spared him. While leaving he told Darren that he would find him and kill him. Mr. Crepsley and Darren then leave the graveyard. The book says to be continued and the second book is called __The Vampire’s Assistant.__