(Darren Shan and his best friend, Steve, get tickets to th...)
Darren Shan and his best friend, Steve, get tickets to the Cirque du Freak, a wonderfully gothic freak show featuring weird, frightening half human/half animals who interact terrifyingly with the audience. In the midst of the excitement, true terror raises its head when Steve recognizes that one of the performers - Mr. Crepsley - is a vampire.
(Half-vampire Darren and his new friend are on the hunt fo...)
Half-vampire Darren and his new friend are on the hunt for a monster in the third installment of New York Times best-selling Saga of Darren Shan series.
(Hunters of the Dusk is the start of an action-packed, thr...)
Hunters of the Dusk is the start of an action-packed, three-part Darren Shan adventure, a tale of quests, friendship, treachery, despair and bloodshed.
(Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their despe...)
Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their desperate quest to the Lake of Souls. Will they survive the savage journey full of killer animals, monstrous mutants and fiery winged beasts? And what awaits them in the murky waters of the dead? The two companions must unravel the riddle of Harkat's identity before they are destroyed.
(Darren is going back to where it all started, back to whe...)
Darren is going back to where it all started, back to where he was reborn as a child of the night. But like Darren, the town has changed a lot over the years. Back home, old enemies await. Scores must be settled. Destiny looks certain to destroy him, and the world is doomed to fall to the Ruler of the Night.
(Dead if he loses - damned if he wins. The time has finall...)
Dead if he loses - damned if he wins. The time has finally come for Darren to face his arch-enemy, Steve Leopard, and fight for control of the night. One of them will die.
(The second novel in this bonechilling series by Darren Sh...)
The second novel in this bonechilling series by Darren Shan, author of the New York Times bestselling Cirque du Freak series, is sure to give every reader goosebumps. Kernel Fleck has always known he's weird. He sees lights. Strange, multi-colored patches of light, swirling through the air. But it's not until a window opens into a demon world, with horrific consequences, that Kernel discovers his powers. As a Disciple, his mission is to hunt vicious, powerful demons to the death.
(Grubbs Grady and his half-brother Bill-E are thrilled to ...)
Grubbs Grady and his half-brother Bill-E are thrilled to join their uncle Dervish as onset consultants for the newest movie by cult horror producer David A. Hayms. Shot in a deserted town renamed Slawter, the demon-themed movie is to be Hayms's masterpiece. But as strange incidents disrupt the set, Grubbs begins to wonder whether more than filming is afoot.
(The fourth novel in this bone chilling series by Darren S...)
The fourth novel in this bone chilling series by Darren Shan, author of the New York Times bestselling Cirque du Freak series, will keep readers turning page after horrifying page.
(Grubbs Grady has so far escaped the family curse, but whe...)
Grubbs Grady has so far escaped the family curse, but when he begins to experience alarming symptoms at the onset of the full moon, he is scared that the jaws of fate are opening and about to swallow him whole.
(The apocalypse came and the world burned. But it wasn't t...)
The apocalypse came and the world burned. But it wasn't the end, and out of the destruction, new life has emerged. Bec is back to face the Demonata. After centuries of imprisonment, she's more powerful than ever, but the demons no longer stand alone.
Darren O'Shaughnessy is an Irish author of several book series, which he usually publishes under the pen name, Darren Shan.
Background
Darren O'Shaughnessy was born on July 2, 1972, in London, England, to Liam O'Shaughnessy, a laborer, and Breda Barry O'Shaughnessy, a teacher.
Darren lived in South East London, near the Elephant & Castle. At the age of six, he moved to Limerick in Ireland, with his parents and younger brother, and has lived there ever since.
Education
At the age of three, Darren started school at English Martyr's in London. He then went to primary school in Askeaton, where his mother was a teacher, then to secondary school at Copsewood College (now Salesian Secondary College) in Pallaskenry. Later, he went back to London to study Sociology and English at the University of Roehampton.
Although Darren always wanted to be a writer, it was only in his teenage years that he began writing in his spare time for fun; before that, he only wrote stories if they were for homework. He bought his first typewriter, when he was 14 and never looked back, knocking out loads of short stories and comic scripts, and making false starts on several books, which he never completed. After graduation from the University of Roehampton, Darren worked for a cable television company in Limerick for a couple of years, before becoming as a full-time writer at the age of 23.
Darren was 17 when he finished his first novel. Although it was never published, he relished the writing experience and found himself focusing more on novels in the coming years, leaving behind the short-story format. For the next several years, sandwiched between university and work, he wrote an average of one book a year, experimenting with different ideas, genres, lengths and styles. When he started writing full-time, his output shot up to 5 to 6 books per year. But that has dropped back to 2 to 3 recently, due to all the traveling around he's been doing to promote sales of his books.
All of these early books were adult-oriented. Although Darren quite liked the idea of writing a children's book one day, he considered himself an adult writer first and foremost. In fact, his initial breakthrough was with an adult book, in February 1999, called "Ayuamarca" (later republished as "Procession of the Dead"), the first of a trilogy of books, known as "The City." That was followed by "Hell's Horizon" in February 2000. Then, several years later, when the first two were re-edited and re-released, he published the third book, "City of the Snakes." In January 2000, Darren's first children's book, "Cirque du Freak", which he'd written as a fun side-project, was published. The first book in a series, titled "The Saga of Darren Shan" (or "Cirque du Freak" as it's known in America), it attracted rave reviews and an ever-growing army of fans hungry to learn more about vampires, which were quite unlike any that anyone had ever seen before.
Darren loved writing for children so much, that for the next several years he focused almost exclusively on his books for younger readers. First, he wrote a total of twelve books about vampires. He quickly followed up his vampiric saga with "The Demonata," a series about demons. Running to ten books in total, "The Demonata" cemented Darren Shan's place as the Master of Children's Horror and saw him score his first UK #1 bestsellers. He also wrote a one-off short book, called "Koyasan," for World Book Day in the United Kingdom in 2006. There was a very successful manga adaptation of Darren's vampire series, drawn by the Japanese artist, Takahiro Arai. It was originally serialized in Japan, but collected volumes are now on sale in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. Darren followed up "The Demonata" with a one-off fantasy book, called "The Thin Executioner," which he has cited as his favorite book, that he has so far written. After that, he wrote a four-book series, called "The Saga of Larten Crepsley," telling the background story of Mr. Crepsley, covering the two hundred years of his life before Shan's readers first saw him in "Cirque du Freak."
Later, Darren wrote a twelve book series for teenagers, called "Zom-B," about a zombie apocalypse, but also the rise of the alt-right and the dangers of not taking a stand against racism and bigotry. Darren released one more book for adults under the name of Darren Shan - a one-off thriller with supernatural tones, called "Lady of the Shades" - before creating a different name for his more mature work.
Darren uses his books to explore personal issues or areas of interest to him. For example, loneliness, codes of honor, death, violence, friendship, fate, religion and others. Childhood and coming of age revolve around such key issues, so the author thinks children's books should too. Most of his books are quite darkly themed - some are downright morbid - but Darren does work in humorous and warm moments.
Quotations:
"Man wasn't made to share the universe with gods. Their ways are not meant for the humble likes of us. But we've decoded some of their secrets regardless. Like worms, we've grabbed on to the talons of eagles and learnt some small truths and means of flight. But we can never really fly. We try, and succeed to a certain extent, but the fall is always - will always be - there. To be a druid is to embrace death, dance with it a while and finally fall prey to it. That is why we'll never rule this world. We have the power to bend all men to your whim, but are forever pushing ourselves further, trying to fly higher...and falling."
"On my deathbed, I want my last words to be, "Hang on! I've just had a really good idea.""
Personality
Darren enjoyed his first taste of literary success at age 15 as a runner-up in a television script-writing competition for RTE in Ireland with a dark comedy script, titled "A Day in the Morgue."
A big film buff, with a collection of nearly five thousand movies on DVD, Darren also reads lots of comics and books and likes to study and collect original artwork, especially comic art, modern art and sculptures. His other interests include long walks and watching football. He's a Tottenham Hotspur and Ireland fan. Darren likes listening to pop and rock music, theatre, worldwide travel, sampling the delights of both gourmet cuisine and finger-licking junk food, as well as dreaming up new ways to terrify his readers.
Darren spends most of his time in Limerick, Ireland, with his wife and children, but he also has an apartment in London, to which he escapes for a burst of high-speed living every so often, when he feels the need to get his "creative juices" flowing. Darren only rarely writes when in London or on the road, preferring to tie himself to his computer when at home in Limerick, where he can work away solidly without any distractions in the peace and quiet of the Irish countryside.
Interests
walks, theatre, worldwide travel
Writers
Stephen King, Roald Dahl, Alan Garner, Robert Cormier, Robert Westall
Sport & Clubs
football: Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Music & Bands
pop and rock music
Connections
Darren is married to Dr. Helen Basini, a freelance university lecturer and global aid specialist. The couple has a son, Dante, and a daughter, Gaia.
Father:
Liam O'Shaughnessy
Mother:
Breda Barry O'Shaughnessy
Wife:
Helen Basini
Son:
Dante O'Shaughnessy
Daughter:
Gaia O'Shaughnessy
References
Contemporary Authors New Revision Series
In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (Volume 198) brings researchers the most recent data on the world's most popular authors.