Darren Shan - Children's Author

Darren Shan's real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy. Although he is Irish he was actually born at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London -- directly across the river from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster (which may explain his fascination with evil bloodsuckers ...).

He lived in SouthEast London until the age of six, when he moved to Limerick in Ireland, with his parents and younger brother, and has lived there ever since (but he never lost his London accent!).

He later returned to London to study Sociology and English at Roehampton University. He then worked for a cable television company in Limerick for a couple of years, before setting up as a full-time writer at the age of 23.

Although Shan 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. He 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 (he was morbid even then!).

All of these early books were adult-oriented. Although Shan quite liked the idea of writing a children’s book one day, he considered himself an adult writer first and foremost. In fact, Shan’s initial breakthrough was with an adult book, in 1999.

In January 2000, his 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!

Shan 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 12 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 Shan’s place in the UK as the Master Of Children’s Horror, and saw him score his first UK #1 bestseller. He also wrote a one-off short book, called Koyasan, for World Book Day in the UK.

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Featured Books, with extracts by Darren Shan

ZOM-B City
Darren Shan
March 2013 Book of the Month   Best-selling Darren Shan, master of the dark story, spins another horrific thriller set after the zombie apocalypse. In the world of the dead, a terrifying battle is taking place over who will control the streets...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Books of the Month | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 14/03/2013
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Zom-B
Darren Shan
March 2013 Book of the Month  The first book in the explosive new zombie series from the master of horror, now in paperback. The exciting new series from the master of teen horror. Zom-B is a radical new series about a...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Books of the Month | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 14/03/2013
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Zom-B
Darren Shan
The exciting new series from the master of teen horror. Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Books for Boys | Books of the Month | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 27/09/2012
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Blood Beast
Darren Shan
Be prepared to be chilled to the bone by the latest instalment in the story of the Demonata. Grubbs Grady has managed to cheat his fate but can he keep out of its clutches forever or, will his werewolf fate...
Featured in: 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/01/2008
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Slawter
Darren Shan
Horror lovers will rejoice in best-selling Darren Shan’s latest in the Demonata series. A trip to Demonata leaves Dervish Grady haunted by the demons in the nightmares that follow. Can he find any escape? Working on a new horror movie...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 03/01/2007
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Bec
Darren Shan
If you know someone who enjoys the feeling of fear and terror whilst reading then there is no one doing it better than Darren Shan.  Bec  continues the successful Demonata series but the book also stands up as a title...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/10/2006
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ZOM-B Underground
Darren Shan
The second gripping instalment in the exciting new zombie series from the master of teen horror.
Featured in: 14+ readers | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/01/2013
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ZOM-B Angels
Darren Shan
Where can you find shelter in a city of the damned? How can you build a new life if you're undead? Who can you trust in a world gone mad? B Smith has come to a crossroads... Click here to...
Featured in: 14+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 20/06/2013
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