This sequel to the fast-paced Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare finds Darren Shan in difficult circumstances. Vampire Larten Crepsley has begun the process of turning Darren into a vampire, but is hampered by Darren's refusal to drink human blood. Feeding on small animals, Darren grows progressively weaker. Crepsley and Darren return to the traveling freak show, Cirque Du Freak, where the vampire hopes Darren will find friends among the unusual performers and finally accept his fate. Although Darren does make friends with snake-boy Evra Von, he also makes a new human friend, Sam, who is enchanted by the freak show and begs to join the troop. Chockful of wonderfully inventive details about the residents of the freak show (which includes a wolf man and the mysterious Mr. Tiny), this stand-alone sequel lacks the poignancy of Anne Rice's early vampire books published for adults, but is well suited to young readers.