Cirque Du Freak is still going strong almost 22 years after first being published, as you can see from these four recent photos.

The first was put together by a fan called Joanna, who wanted to create a visual representation of chapter 8 of the book, when Darren and Steve first arrive at the theatre where the show is being staged. She presents the images by themselves first of all, then the text which puts them into context -- I'd advise focusing on the top, text-free half first, to try working everything out without the words, to test how much of the chapter YOU remember! :-)

The second snap was shared by Glenthorne High School, and features the top 5 books for that week in school -- I'm guessing that means the five books which were most rented out from the library. Nice to see The Vampire Prince in there -- that was always one of my favourites from the series.

The third is a review for Cirque Du Freak written by a student of Airdrie Academy, and very neatly sums up the first book in a single line. (My favourite one-line summation of the book came many years ago, when a student wrote, "Cirque Du Freak is a story that starts in a toilet and ends in a graveyard!")

The final photo was shared by a vampire lover called Laura in the run-up to Halloween, recommending a wide list of vampire books for teens and younger readers. It's a fangtastic selection (sorry! I couldn't resist the pun!!), and what a thrill to see Cirque Du Freak rubbing shoulders with Interview With The Vampire, The Graveyard Book, and the grand-daddy of them all, the original Dracula.

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The November issue of the Darren Shan monthly newsletter can be read here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly