Hi, Demolition Lover. You'll find quite a busy thread about Darren Shan's work over in the YA section:
Darren Shan
As it happens, I just finished Cirque du Freak (correct spelling!) two nights ago. I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of the blood fest I was expecting, this book was a delightfully creepy story that left me understanding why Mr Shan has become so popular during the last few years. The writing was clean, crisp and expressive. The story flowed well, and made good use of many things that send shivers up the spine - big venomous spiders, creepy houses, being shut in confined spaces, (buried alive) and, of course, vampires.
I'm not a big horror fan, but I will certainly be happy to recommend his books to those who are.