Vampire Blood (also called the Cirque du Freak Trilogy) is the first trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by the author Darren Shan. It contains the books Cirque Du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. These starting books explore how Darren must adapt to his new life, and what that entails. The first book contains the reasons why he became a half-vampire and what he had to give up in order to save his ex-best friend, as well as introducing the character. The second and third go into more detail about how he has to change and what he will never be able to do. The main theme for the whole of the trilogy is insecurity. Darren has just been changed into something hardly anyone would accept, and this, combined with the fact that he is just a child, leads into a darker and more unusual way to grow up.
The film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is loosely based on this trilogy. Universal Studios bought the rights to Darren Shan and it was directed by Paul Weitz with Chris Massoglia playing the lead role of Darren Shan. The film was released on October 23, 2009.
Famous quotes containing the words vampire and/or blood:
“If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two—
The vampire who said he was you
And drank my blood for a year,
Seven years, if you want to know.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“On fields all drenched with blood he made his record in war, abstained from lawless violence when left on the plantation, and received his freedom in peace with moderation. But he holds in this Republic the position of an alien race among a people impatient of a rival. And in the eyes of some it seems that no valor redeems him, no social advancement nor individual development wipes off the ban which clings to him.”
—Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911)