向達倫只是個普通的男學生──直到他拿到邀請函去看怪奇馬戲團……直到他遇到八夫人……直到他和這個夜晚的生物面對面。沒多久，達倫和他的朋友史提掉到一個致命的陷阱裡。達倫必須跟那位能救史提的人約定協議。但是那個人不是人類，而是嗜血為生的……
　　★本書中譯本由皇冠出版
　　The chilling Saga of Darren Shan, the ordinary schoolboy plunged into the vampire world.
　　THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN BOOK 1
　　Darren goes to a banned freak show with his best mate Steve. It’s the wonderfully gothic Cirque Du Freak where weird, frightening half human/half animals appear who interact terrifyingly with the audience. Darren – a spider freak – ‘falls in love’ with Madam Octa – an enormous tarantala owned by Mr Crepsley. Darren determines to steal the spider so that he can train it to perform amazing deeds. But his daring theft goes horribly wrong and Darren finds himself having to make a bargain with a creature of the night.
　　Something out of the ordinary is set against the background of children’s normal lives to chilling effect. Atmospheric, funny, realistic, moving and… terrifying.