Several months ago (sorry for being so late with my link!!) a YouTuber called Better With Bob? (with the coolest bandana in YouTubedom!) filmed an impressive video about YA fantasy books in the noughties which had been adapted into films. He covered the likes of Stormbreaker, Eragon and The Chronicles of Narnia, but led things off with his take on the Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant movie.

It's fair to say that Bob - who was a big fan of the books - wasn't blown away by the movie, and he lays out his reasons why in a clear, fair-handed, humorous fashion over the course of four or so minutes. Now, as I've often repeated here over the years, I do honeslty like the movie on its own terms -- if you've never read my books (or can get your brain wiped so that you forget about them) it's a quirky, unusual little oddbod of a movie. It doesn't always work, and the tone is all over the place, but I like that it's not like every other film out there, I like that it tries different things, and I'm not surprised that it's picked up a little cult following, appearing at various times on the likes on Sky, Netflix and Amazon.

Quite a few fans have told me that the film was their gateway to my books, that they'd never heard of me before they saw it, and enjoyed it enough to make them want to track down my books and get deeper into the story. (Of course, quite a few of THOSE then decided, after having read my books, that the film was a travesty, and they couldn't understand why they liked it in the first place!) So, yeah, although naturally I would have preferred a more faithful adaptation -- and I believe it could have fared far better at the box office if they'd made more of an effort to capture what made the books so special -- I've no axe to grind with it.

That being said, Bob makes a lot of very valid points in his cutting critique, and I certainly understand why it disappointed him, as well as other existing Shansters at the time. To find out what he had to say about it, along with the other films that he included in the review, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-uYK0SO0Nk

And for all the latest Darren Shan-related news and updates, click here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly