Cirque du Freak (Collins Readers) Darren Shan

Darren is just your average schoolboy - or was, at least - until he and his friend Steve buy tickets to the outlawed magical and macabre Cirque Du Freak. Packed with wonderfully grotesque characters - including a snake-boy, a wolf-man and, most exciting of all, an enormous performing spider - the boys are enchanted, fascinated and yet terrified by the show.