Apparently it's school holidays time in New Zealand right now, and a web site called Stuff put together a list of suitable films for school kids that are currently showing on Netflix -- and guess which freaky little flick from ten years ago was included in the recommendations?!? Now, I know a lot of you don't like the Cirque Du Freak film, especially as it was so unfaithful to the books, but as I've always said, if you can forget about the books (a hard ask, I know) and take it on its own terms, it's a quirky, oddbeat, weirdly fun little movie that appealed to a lot of viewers outside the mainstream. (Quite a few of whom started reading my books after they'd seen it, having never heard of me before. (Although... hmm... actually, a fair few of those turned against the film too once they'd read the books!)) Don't take my word for it -- have a look at the brief synopsis on the Stuff site. I know that if *I* had read that, coming to the movie as a complete outsider, it would have certainly seemed worth a look to me...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/116155438/the-best-primary-schoolage-kids-movies-to-watch-on-netflix-right-now

Of course, if you've already seen the CDF movie, or have absolutely no interest in ever laying eyes on it, you can always pass some time instead by reading the October issue of the Shanville Monthly, with all the (official) Darren Shan news stories and updates from the last month or so, plus an exciting competition to tie in with the ten year anniversary of (allegedly) everybody's second favourite Darren Shan series... Click here to find out more: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly/