Darren was born on the 2nd July 1972, in London. After starting school at the age of three, he moved at the age of six to Limerick with his parents and younger brother. He went back to London to study Sociology/ English at college, and then worked for a cable TV company for a couple of years before setting up as a full time writer.
Darren started out writing books for adults, and managed to get a couple published — but they didn’t sell very many copies! Then, one day, he had an idea for a book about a boy who meets a vampire at a freak show. He wrote it as a children’s book, called it Cirque Du Freak — and the rest is history!!!
Cirque Du Freak was the first of a 12 book series about vampires. The 12th and final book – Sons of Destiny – came out in October 2004. The series has been translated into 20 languages, and is on sale all over the world. Recently, Darren sold the film rights to Universal Studios, and an Oscar-winning director called Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) is set to write the script.
In June 2005, the first book in Darren Shan’s next series will be unleashed. Called Lord Loss, it’s a book about demons. There will be several more, and the series will be called The Demonata. Darren hopes it provides readers with even more nightmares than his vampire books did!!!!
A big film buff, Darren also reads lots of comics and books. Other interests include long walks, watching and discussing football, worldwide travel, and dreaming up new ways to terrify his readers!
Darren’s favourite football team: Tottenham Hotspur.
Some of Darren’s favourite “classic” books: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; The Witches by Roald Dahl; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; Watership Down by Richard Adams; The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall; The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.
Some of Darren’s favourite “hip, young and handsome authors”: Eoin Colfer, Melvin Burgess, Louis Sachar, Garth Nix, Philip Pullman.
Darren’s scariest movie: Salem’s Lot (the version made for TV in the late 1970s).
