Amazon.co.uk: Your real name is Darren Shaughnessy. How and why did you
decide to change it?
Darren Shan: When I was first doing the book I decided to write it in the first
person and say it was a true story. I knew that I'd have to use a
different name because I write other books, and Darren Shan just
popped into my head. I've got an uncle who always used to call me
Shan the Man!
Amazon.co.uk: When did you first start writing?
Shan: I first started when I was at school. I began writing short stories.
Then when I was 14 or 15 I got my first typewriter - a little portable
number that I bought in Argos - and I found I could write much
much quicker. It was very easy to press the buttons and it made a nice
little clattering sound.
Amazon.co.uk: What did you write in those days?
Shan: I used to write very dark horrible stories--the normal things
teenagers do: the nastier the better! These were my first stabs at
books.
I always enjoyed writing stories in English--I had a teacher in
the first and second year at secondary school who was very
encouraging. Brother Seamus, he was called. But as you get older,
they tell you to stop writing stories--you have to start writing essays
then.
Amazon.co.uk: Do you let anyone read your books as you write them?
Shan: No, not until I finish. The earlier drafts are very rough, I don't like
anyone to read my work until it's as good as it's going to get.
Amazon.co.uk: How did you start writing Cirque Du Freak
?
Shan: At the time I was working on another book when I had the idea for
Cirque Du Freak
on the Thursday. I started it the following Monday.
Originally it was just a side project--I'd never written a children's
book before--so I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I
thought, well I'll start it and if I don't finish I don't really care. I'll
just knock out a few pages in the evening, just for fun! But as it
went on, I got more involved with it.
Amazon.co.uk: Was it your first book?
Shan: No! I've written loads and loads of books. I've got a huge stack of
first drafts propped up on my bedroom floor!
It's good to write books, just to write. A lot of the books I've written
aren't ready for publication. You learn from it. I finished my first
novel when I was 17. Having finished it, I felt as if I'd really
achieved something, and it encouraged me to keep on writing. Once
you actually do something and realise you can do it, it's a case of
honing your craft and really working at it.
Amazon.co.uk: Cirque Du Freak
isn't a one-off, is it?
Shan: No, it's going to be a big long series with about 24 books in total.
Amazon.co.uk: Have you planned them all out?
Shan: Well I've just finished book eight so I've planned them about two or
three books ahead at a time. I know the overall plot-line for the
story--all the ins and outs. The relationship between Mr Crepsley
and Darren develops as they go on, and there are new characters
coming in.
Amazon.co.uk: Do the characters have a life of their own ?
Shan: Definitely. Take Mr Crepsley. I wasn't entirely sure how he would
develop. Is he good? Is he bad? What's he going to be like with
Darren?
Amazon.co.uk: Why would anyone want to read this book?
Shan: It's a good book for people who don't normally read books because
it gives you something that most books don't . It's unpredictable.
When you start out, you don't know how it's going to finish up.
Most books usually start out and follow a normal format. The
template for Cirque Du Freak
--and I didn't realise it at the time--is the movie Psycho
. It starts out as one thing, there's a big
revelation mid-way through, and it becomes something else again.
Amazon.co.uk: There's a strong feeling of taboo about the freak show isn't there?
Shan: There's a forbidden feel to it, yes. There are no other children at the
Cirque Du Freak
, but they go in anyway. I think readers like that--if you ever tell a child you can't do this, they want to do it. You
can't go there--they're off!
But going back to the origins of children's literature, some books
were exceedingly dark, with a strong religious aspect. Grimm's Fairy Tales were really gruesome!
Amazon.co.uk: Cirque Du Freak
creates a strange world, doesn't it?
Shan: It's an underworld. A lot of fantasy books I've read--people like
Clive Barker--explored hidden societies
Amazon.co.uk: What did you read as a child?
Shan: I really liked comics when I was growing up; the Eagle
when it was
relaunched in the 80s, 2000AD
. I read a lot of Enid Blyton too. It
takes the knocks these days but I loved her stuff. The Famous Five
were my favourites. I used to argue with my uncle about it--he
preferred The Secret Seven.
Amazon.co.uk: Ever read any Goosebumps?
Shan: Goosebumps
wasn't out when I was growing up but I did used to
read lots of Alfred Hitchcock , and other
adult stuff like that.That was something I was trying to do with
Cirque Du Freak
--I was thinking about people like Poe, great old
creepy tales. I wanted a nice dark feel to Cirque Du Freak
, a book
you can read through very quickly, but at the end you don't just
put it down and forget about it--it keeps trickling through your
mind. You think about the start--going into the theatre, the woman
who has her hand bitten off--thoughts keep going around.
Amazon.co.uk: It's very cinematic isn't it?
Shan: Yes, I watch a lot of films. I've seen virtually every horror film there
was at one stage. I used to watch all those Hammer Horror
films
when I was a kid. I lived in London until the age of six and
occasionally I'd stay up late and catch a glimpse of Vincent Price.
And I used to watch Tales of the Unexpected
too. And The Outer Limits
, Tales from the Darkside
. And I loved The Ray Bradbury Theatre
and I've read all his [Ray Bradbury] books too.
Amazon.co.uk: How did you come to "star" in your own novel?
Shan: When I was writing the book, I was thinking about what I liked
reading when I was 10,11, 12-years-old. So by using myself as the
main character I was able to put myself in the position where I
wrote about what I would have liked. So instead of imagining what
a 12-year-old might like to read today, I imagined back to what I
liked when I was younger.
Amazon.co.uk: Darren, the central character is quite an ordinary kid isn't he?
Shan: The best fantasy always start off with something ordinary.
And if you have your characters wander in to something
extraordinary it makes it more interesting. I read loads of fantasies
when I was growing up, stuff like Lord of the Rings with hobbits and
elves. If you can start with real people though, you have characters
that readers can identify with.
Amazon.co.uk: Do you prefer fantasy to reality?
Shan: Children believe in fantasy more readily than adults. They like
scaring themselves. When I was a child I loved thinking about
Dracula flying in the the window and attacking me as I tried to
fight him off. At the same time, I always knew the difference
between what was and wasn't real. Children can definitely tell the
difference.
Amazon.co.uk: What scares you, Darren?
Shan: Well I'm not too fond of spiders! Tarantulas would be fine, I don't
mind holding one of them. It's when they creep up on you
unawares, when they drop down on you while you're eating dinner
or watching telly - urgh! I used to squish 'em but since I wrote this I
guide them out of the room. I think I owe them that now.
