BOOK 1: Cirque Du Freak

Darren Shan is a normal boy until his friend, Alan Morris , finds a flier advertising the Cirque du Freak, a traveling show which will be performing in his town. Darren and his friends pool their money together to buy the tickets, then sneaks out with Steve Leonard to see the show at an abandoned theater. They see many amazing and terrifying acts, including a man named Larten Crepsley, who performs with a venomous tarantula. After the show, Steve tells Darren to go home without him, but Darren climbs the stairs to the theater's balcony to spy on him. He sees Steve confront Mr. Crepsley, claiming that he recognized him as a vampire and asking to become a vampire himself. Mr. Crepsely initially agrees, but after tasting his blood, he claims that Steve has "evil blood" and refuses to make him a vampire, telling him that vampires are not evil monsters. An angry Steve runs away, leaving a shocked Darren to return home.
Darren becomes obsessed with the spider, and he resolves to steal it. He sneaks into the abandoned theatre to take Madam Octa's cage. He than uses a flute to hypnotise her and telepathically commands her to do tricks. He invites Steve over, showing him Madam Octa and using the flute to make her perform tricks. However, his sister Annie comes in, disrupting Darren's concentration and causing the spider to bite Steve, who is rendered comatose. Darren hides Madam Octa before calling his parents, claiming that he did not see what happened. Steve is hospitalized and appears unlikely to recover.
Desperate for a cure, Darren returns to Mr. Crepsely and asks for help. The vampire agrees to give Steve the antidote, but only if Darren will become his assistant. Though initially horrified, Darren eventually agrees and is made a half-vampire. The pair travel to the hospital, where Mr. Crepsely administers the antidote to Steve, but Darren then runs away as he does not want to leave his ordinary life. Over the next few weeks, Darren notices that he has become stronger and fitter, with more acute senses. As a half-vampire, he is unaffected by sunlight. However, while playing soccer, he accidentally injures one of his team mates and, unable to resist his vampire urges, drinks blood from the wound. He pretends that it was a joke, but realizes that Steve was not fooled. Later, he nearly drinks from Annie and finally accepts that he can no longer live as a human.
He returns to the abandoned theatre, where Mr. Crepsely promises to help Darren fake his death so that he can travel the world with him. At Darren's house, he gives Darren a potion that will simulate death, then carefully breaks his neck without damaging his spinal cord and throws him out of his bedroom window. Everyone believes that it was an accident and Darren is buried without having an autopsy. Darren is dug out by Mr. Crepsely, then ambushed by Steve while Mr. Crepsely repairs the grave. Steve reveals he realized that Darren had become a half-vampire and accuses Darren of conspiring against him with Mr. Crepsely. He is unable to kill Darren, but he carves a cross into his own hand, vowing that he will eventually kill both Darren and Mr. Crepsley. He flees, and Darren follows Mr. Crepsley to his future as a creature of the night.

BOOK 2: The Vampire's Assistant

The Vampire's Assistant picks up two months after Cirque Du Freak left off. Darren Shan has recently become a half-vampire and is having trouble coping with his new powers and needs, and even more trouble coping with Mr. Crepsley, the vampire who blooded him (turned him into a half-vampire by pumping some of his blood into Darren). Darren refuses to drink human blood, for "fear of giving up his human side", and is becoming weak because of it, even though he is drinking animal blood. After Darren causes an accident with some children playing hockey, Mr. Crepsley decides that they should reunite with the Cirque Du Freak to help Darren cope with his new powers and Darren to get new friends . Mr. Crepsley can telepathically communicate with spiders, and he and Darren perform an act at the Cirque with the poisonous spider, Madam Octa. At the Cirque, Darren quickly makes friends with the snake boy Evra Von; they have to work and do odd tasks around the Cirque, along with finding food for strange hooded beings called Little People. When the Cirque sets up in a very remote part of the countryside, Darren makes friends with a local kid, Sam Grest, and a travelling hippie R.V. (Reggie Veggie), who is an "environmental warrior", a firm believer in protecting the environment also destors anything that kills nature. Darren makes the mistake of inviting R.V. to the Cirque to see a show; R.V. is outraged at the inhumanity shown towards the dangerous wolf-man and decides to take action when he sees Darren kill a sheep while hunting for Little People. R.V. attempts to set the wolf-man loose. He loses his hands in the process, and runs off into the night, screaming and repeating "My hands!!!!. The wolf-man, now free, pursues and kills Sam, and almost kills Darren as well; however, as Darren is being attacked, Mr Crepsley knocks the Wolfman unconscious. As Sam is dying, Mr. Crepsley tells Darren to drain him of blood, to keep his spirit alive within Darren. After the Cirque leaves, Evra asks Darren if he wants any food; after saying no, he gets a tingle and asks "do we have any pickled onions?"—making a reference to Sam's obsession with pickled onions.

BOOK 3: Tunnels of Blood

While at the Cirque Du Freak, a friend of Mr. Crepsley's by the name of Gavner Purl comes to visit him. The two of them talk in private about something, and Mr. Crepsley later says that they must travel to a city far away, because he has to take care of something. He suggests that Evra should come along, to keep Darren company. They later find out that they are traveling to Mr. Crepsley's human hometown. They stay in a hotel, and Mr. Crepsley goes out every night, leaving Evra and Darren alone to do anything they want.
One night, Darren and Evra are disturbed by a news report saying that human bodies were found in a basement, drained of blood. Darren and Evra fear that it may be Mr. Crepsley, and decide to track him at night to see where he goes. When Darren thinks that he is about to go and kill a man, Darren attempts to face Mr. Crepsley and tries to stop him, but discovers that it was actually a work of a mad vampaneze named Murlough.
While walking around the city during the day, Darren meets a girl named Debbie, who he starts dating. But Murlough Kidnapps Evra, and brings him down into his hiding place in the sewer. Finally Darren decides to trade the life of Debbie for Evra's, which turns out to be a trap, in which Mr.Crepsley is waiting for the mad vampaneze. The fight is quickly over with Mr. Crepsley winner. Murlough's last words to Darren are,"Cluh-cluh-clever buh-buh-buh-boy, hmmm?". He then falls face-first and dies. They then go back to the sewers to save Evra, and Mr. Crepsley tells Darren that chances are, he'll never see Debbie again. Though he knows this , he takes a small christmas tree Debbie and her family decorate each year and quickly decorates it to make his promise to Debbie that he won`t leave without saying goodbye. He hopes the christmas tree will be the first thing she sees in the morning as a farewell from Darren. He kisses her forehead and says his last words to Debbie , Merry Christmas, Debbie.

BOOK 4: Vampire Mountain

Darren Shan, along with Mr. Crepsley, leaves the Cirque Du Freak and head toward the Vampire Mountain to present Darren to the Vampire Princes. The gathering at Vampire Mountain by the vampire clan is an event that occurs every 12-18 years. Before they leave, Mr. Tiny talks to Mr. Crepsley and coerces him into taking two of the Little People along as guardians of Darren.
On the journey, Darren Shan, two of the Little People (including Harkat Mulds, once known as Lefty), and Mr. Crepsley they also run into Mr.Crepsley's old friend, Gavner Purl (a Vampire General introduced in the previous book) in a way station. The way station is a place where vampires rest while ascending the treacherous path to Vampire Mountain(they are recomended because Vampires cannot flit to the mountain cause it is against their code), where Darren and Mr. Crepsley see two broken coffins and vampire blood. Here Gavner Purl jokingly tries to kidnap Darren in the waystation and surprise the party. Mr. Crepsley, alert and unknowing of the man's identity nearly kills Gavner.
Darren also has a fight with a bear infected with vampaneze blood and encounters a pack of wolves (cousins of the vampires) who help him in the battle. Harkat comes and saves him and begins to speak, saying that he has a message about The Vampaneze Lord.
After a long and difficult journey, the vampires and half-vampire Darren finally arrive at Vampire Mountain. There Darren first encounters Arra Sails, Mr. Crepsley's former "mate", one-eyed Vanez Blane, a fighting coach for Vampire Generals. Seba Niles, Mr Crepsley's old friend and quarter master of vampire mountain, and good natured Kurda Smahlt, the soon-to-be Vampire Prince. At the mountain the vampire Princes decided that Darren has to take a series of trials that prove him worthy of being a half- vampire. The price of failure is death, either by dying during a trial, or being painfully executed by being dropped into a pit of stakes.

BOOK 5: Trials of Death

The main character, Darren Shan takes part in the Trials of Initiation. The trials are a series of tasks that vampires used to have to do to prove themselves to the Princes. Now it is only used for people who want to become a general or if they want to show they are a good vampire, but Darren Shan has to do the trials because Mr. Crepsley blooded him when he was only a child and Darren chooses to stand up for his mentor.
The first of four trials is The Aquatic Maze, which is a maze that fills steadily with water while Darren has to get through while dragging a rock half his weight. The second Trial is The Path of Needles, which is a tunnel full of stalagmites and stalactites which splinter badly and are as sharp as knives (Darren must get from one end to the other, barefoot and in only leather shorts). The third Trial is The Hall of Flames, which is a metal room with holes that shoot out flames, Darren must remain in the room for fifteen minutes, trying not to get 'roasted'.
He completes three, and is rescued by Harkat Mulds during the fourth when he fights two 'blooded boars' (wild boars 'infected' with vampire blood). As the interference is illegal and counts as forfeit, he does not succeed, Darren is sentenced to die at the Hall of Death. Kurda persuades him to run away. They are halfway when Gavner catches up with them and tags along. They stumble across an army of 37 vampaneze. Kurda tells Darren to run and Gavner and Kurda fight them. Darren turns back and watches as Kurda swing his knife in a magnificent arc into Gavner, killing him. It turns out that Kurda was in league with the vampaneze. Kurda argues that his intentions are noble, and that he just wanted the vampires to reconcile with the vampaneze. Darren then runs throughout the many tunnels and reaches the Hall of final Voyage. Kurda chases after Darren but Darren jumps into the river and shouts "Even in death, may I be triumphant!" as the current swiftly carries him away ending the book.

BOOK 6: The Vampire Prince

The book carries on from when Darren Shan was falling down a huge waterfall in Trials of Death, and he must make his way back to Vampire Mountain, while avoiding Kurda Smahlt and his accomplices. He runs into a pack of wolves, Streak and Rudi the two wolves he knows from an earlier encounter. These wolves help him make his way back to Vampire Mountain safely. He must find a way to inform the vampire princes (the leaders of the vampires) of Kurda's treachery before they crown him a fellow prince. Kurda's treason includes hiding vampaneze inside the mountain, preparing to murder the princes and gain control of the Stone of Blood (a powerful stone that can be used to locate any vampire who has touched it) with which he would force the vampires to join the vampaneze and become a single clan once more. However, with Seba Nile's help, Darren reveals Kurda to the Princes in the nick of time. The vampaneze are found and savagely murdered. Arra Sails is badly wounded during the fight with the vampaneze and dies. Vanez Blane loses his other eye, and Darren kills two vampaneze, but is sickened by his own battle lust. Even though Kurda's intentions were pure, the Princes give him the most terrible punishment possible: execution by impalement of stakes in the Hall of Death in the manner of a traitor and shameful cremation, so that he may not reach paradise. During his trial, Kurda explains his plans to the vampires, and they see that he wasn't selfish, so they no longer hate him. Darren is supposed to be executed for fleeing the Princes judgment, but the Princes, wanting to hold true to traditions and spare Darren, decide that he must be made a Prince, thereby putting him above the laws which demand his execution.

BOOK 7: Hunters of the Dusk

This shows Darren Shan 6 years after his last encounter with the vampaneze. Now that he is an active member in the vampire community (being a Vampire Prince), Darren once again is visited by Mr. Desmond Tiny. Their brief encounter sends a more experienced Darren Shan on a quest to find and kill the Vampaneze Lord, who is said to destroy the Vampire clan in a great war. This prophecy can be averted if, and only if, one of the three chosen vampire hunters could kill the Vampaneze Lord, and Darren is one of them along with Mr. Crepsley. The three hunters are predicted to encounter with the Lord 4 times; in the 3 times, the Vampaneze Lord will be at their mercy. If they fail to kill him, there will be one final encounter in which the outcome of the war will be decided. If 2 of them are killed, then the vampaneze will be victorious; but if the Vampaneze Lord is killed, then the vampires win. To find the third hunter, they must travel to Lady Evanna's who can help them on their quest. They will meet him half-way on their adventure. He sets out from Vampire Mountain with Mr Crepsley and Harkat Mulds. On the way to Evanna's , they meet the final member of their party, another prince, Vancha March (after encountering a small group of vampets, which are humans who fight with the vampaneze). Vancha March is a very traditional vampire, who dresses in animal skins and has green hair. He only sleeps on the ground, and fights only with shuriken. Upon meeting Evanna, Darren learns that after the war between the vampires and vampaneze is over, a great evil known as the Lord of Shadows will arise bringing horrible tragedy upon the world. Their actions cannot avert this from coming to pass, and all they can do is decide whom the Lord will be. If the hunters fail to kill the Vampaneze lord, he will rise to power(becoming the Lord of Shadows), but if they succeed, then Darren shall change into the most malevolent evil ever, if he wants to or not. After they leave Evanna's, the witch accompanying, they go back to the Cirque Du Freak where they feel their true quest and worries will begin. At the Cirque du Freak, Darren learns that Evra got married and gave birth to 3 children. One night, Darren follows Evanna into the woods as she meets up with a group of vampaneze. The hunters (Vancha, Crepsley, and Darren) move in and attack the vampaneze. While fighting, Vancha notices a vampaneze and a hooded vampaneze and hesitates to kill the vampaneze as he flits away with the servant. Vancha reveals that the vampaneze was his brother Gannen Harst. Evanna explains herself and explains that she was talking with the vampaneze. She also reveals that the hooded vampaneze was actually the Vampaneze Lord, now giving the hunters only 3 more chances to find him and kill him. Darren, Larten, and Vancha then leave the Cirque to find the Vampaneze Lord.

BOOK 8: Allies of the Night

Darren and Mr.Crepsley went to Crepsley hometown to investigate if Vampaneze had set up territories there. Darren was given noticed and found out he had to attend school. People were killed at night and Crepsley and Darren investigated. Debbie was discovered as a teacher very much older than Darren after years. Darren was a student of Debbie. Crepsley had to go back to Vampire Mountain again for Paris's funeral. Darren encounters a Vampaneze with a hook and unknown mask wrapped around his face. Darren was attacked by Vampaneze and was saved by Steve. Steve joins Darren for the hunt of the Vampaneze. Darren later reveals himself as a vampire to Debbie. Debbie joins Darren and Steve for the fight. Crepsley comes back later and help Darren pursue the Vampaneze but doesn't trust Steve with him. Vancha also joins again later. They chased the hook Vampaneze to the sewers at night. The Vampaneze led them to a trap. The Vampaneze Lord shows up and Darren and his team were to kill him as their objective. Steve show his true side later betraying Darren and his friends. The hooked Vampaneze was revealed to be RV (Reggie Veggie). Steve joined the Vampaneze as revealed.A fight begins between the Hunters and the Vampaneze. Vancha charges through the Vampets, scattering them and Mr. Crepsley follows, slicing with his nails to bring down many Vampaneze. Darren soon beats Steve and is about to finish him off, but RV uses Debbie as a hostage, so Darren Shan does not kill Steve. RV, Gannen Harst and the Lord soon leave. Darren and his friends took a Vampet and Steve as their hostage and was given a warning by Gannen to leave the tunnels immediately or he'll send Vampaneze to finish them off.

BOOK 9: Killers of the Dawn

The book starts with Darren and his friends quickly leaving the underground passages to escape the vampaneze and vampets. With them are two hostages, Steve Leopard (who reveals himself to be a half-vampaneze) and a vampet. Debbie has been taken hostage by R.V. Vancha tortures the vampet back at their base and finds out that only the Vampaneze Lord can kill the three hunters. Unfortunately, Steve had arranged for the police to find out about them and soon they are surrounded by the police and army. They escape by jumping through the window, while Vancha escapes with the chief of police; the rest are captured and imprisoned. Eventually a vampet called Morgan helps Darren escape, claiming that he is proud to serve the creatures of the night. Darren then helps Harkat escape, a task which was aided by the guards' fear of Harkat (they were under the impression that he had a rare and deadly disease). The two together are able to free Larten Crepsley. They quickly go outside, unnoticed by the guards who are occupied by Steve's having killed a nurse and two other people. Mr. Crepsley, Darren and Harkat descend into the tunnels, where they meet up with Vancha. They arm themselves with weapons carelessly discarded by the vampaneze. They seek out Steve, who calls the rest of the vampaneze. There is a battle between the two sides, and soon they face whom they believe is the Vampaneze Lord. The suspected Vampaneze Lord says that he and Mr. Crepsley must fight one another alone. Crepsley kills the Vampaneze Lord, but Steve jumps onto his back and causes him to fall over the side, where he is hanging over the flaming stakes with Steve. Since he believes the Vampaneze lord is dead, he agrees to kill himself and stop holding on to Steve in exchange for a free passage for the rest. After he is dead and everyone has safely departed, Steve reveals himself to Darren as the Vampaneze Lord.

BOOK 10: The Lake of Souls

The Lake of Souls takes place right after Killers of the Dawn, with Mr. Crepsley dead and Steve's revelation that he is the Lord of the Vampaneze. Darren is unable to cry. He feels numb, but with the help of the bearded lady, Truska, he eventually does so. Mr. Tiny then appears and tells Harkat that if he wants his nightmares (which have returned) to stop, he must walk through a portal that Mr. Tiny makes. Harkat refuses to let Darren go with him. Debbie Hemlock and Police Chief Alice Burgess want to start an army to combat the vampets, but have to get the approval of the vampire princes first, so they are only mentioned briefly. Darren later decides that he should go with Harkat, much to Harkat's dismay. Darren and Harkat then walk through the mysterious portal, and are thrown into a strange, gray world.
Darren and Harkat are forced to complete many diffucult tasks. They first hunt down a black panther and collect a map inside it. Darren finds that the panther's teeth have been marked with letters. They start rearranging the teeth, with Harkat using up all the teeth to get SLAM DARK HUT, and then again to find it reads HARKAT MULDS. Harkat dismisses it as an utter waste of time, as Mr. Tiny loves to meddle with time. Harkat keeps the teeth, saying that they might be useful as they are sharp.
Next they have to steal 'gelatinous globes' from the world's biggest toad. They arrive to see the toad standing in the middle of a lake surrounded by crocodiles. Darren and Harkat zip through the lake, grab a few globes, then run off.
Darren and Harkat eventually meet up with Lady Evanna. Her appearance is completely unexpected, and she does not wish to tell the two how or why she is there. She helps them get across the lake where they meet a man who calls himself Spits Abrams. Spits is a former pirate and heavy drinker, and although Darren and Harkat do not trust him very much, they decide that Mr. Tiny put him in that world for a reason, and decide to take him with them.
They soon reach a small area filled with 'people' called Kulashkas. They are required to steal vials of 'holy liquid'. Darren and Harkat enter the village, Spits being afraid, to find the 'holy liquid' to be the venom from the fangs of a huge creature called the Grotesque. The Grotesque is apparently the Kulashkas' god. Darren and Harkat rush to two vials containing the venom and are attacked by the Grotesque.
Harkat raises the vial as the Grotesque attempts to kill him, and the Grotesque backs off. The Kulashkas arrive, pointing spears at Darren and Harkat, trying to drive them back. They are driven closer to the Grotesque and Darren drives them back with his vial. The chief of the Kulashkas starts trying to speak to them in a non-understandable language, with Darren saying that he can't understand them. The chief starts gesturing that they are free to leave, but must return the vials to the altar which carried them. Darren starts to do so, but a drunken Spits arrives, throwing one vial at the Grotesque, which explodes, hurting the Grotesque and those nearby it, revealing the liquid to be highly explosive. Harkat sees floorboards underneath them and starts stomping on them. Darren joins in, with Spits saying, "What in the devil's name are ye..." before crashing through the floorboards.
They end up in a tunnel, following it until they reach a room. There is a fridge, which Spits asks about, as he did not have fridges in his time. There are also postcards, signed by Mr. Tiny. Harkat is bothered by the postcards, but does not explain why. They then leave the room, Spits taking a few extra bottles of whiskey.
They soon reach the Lake. It is seen to be covered with dragons and Darren and Harkat figure out that they should make bombs, filling the 'gelatinous globes' with the Grotesque venom and throwing it at the dragons. They finally get up close to the Lake and Spits says that when Mr. Tiny brought him here, he told him that there was a spell on the Lake forbidding dragons to be closer than eight metres to the Lake unless a living person fell into the Lake. Then Spits quotes on how many people are in the Lake of Souls. He starts talking about how the crew on the Prince o' Pariah, the ship he used to serve, loved his meals, revealing that he is a cannibal. Spits says that he plans to stay by the Lake of Souls, feeding of the people who lived there. He is persistently told not to feed on the souls and is accidentally knocked away from the eight metre zone. A dragon soon breathes fire at him and he is seen burning, running around not able to see, and then falls into the lake, breaking the spell.
While being ruthlessly attacked by a dragon, Harkat pulls up his former identity, revealed to be Kurda Smahlt. The world freezes and Mr. Tiny appears to congratulate him. He also tells them, since Kurda and Harkat are of the same soul, only one could survive. It is decided that Harkat will remain alive.
Back at the Cirque du Freak, Harkat removes the panther's teeth and starts juggling the letters around, and just when he reaches HARKAT, he stops, apparently shocked, then rearranges it to find it reads KURDA SMAHLT. Darren then realizes that Harkat's name is an anagram and that the answer was in front of them all along, saying that if they spent more time on the teeth they might not have had to go through all the tasks. Harkat also takes out the postcards, pointing the time and date it was sent, noting that it was all dated twelve, twenty, thirty, and fifty years later. Harkat then reveals his theory: that the barren land they had visited was the future.
It is also told by Lady Evanna that no matter who wins the War of the Scars, either Darren or Steve would become the Lord of the Shadows who is a ruthless ruler of the night.

BOOK 11: Lord of the Shadows

The gang follow Steve to the old abandoned theatre where it all began. Morgan James and Darius battles Darren and Harkat, and Harkat kills Morgan James. They meet up with Steve, who says that he is Darren's blood brother, in a way. After the brutal killing of Evra's son Shancus, Darren prepares to surrender himself to destiny and kill Darius, but has second thoughts after a shocking revelation: Annie is Darius's mother, making Darius Darren's nephew.

BOOK 12: Sons of Destiny

After Darren was told by Steve that Darius is also Darren's nephew, Darren couldn't kill him. He was later taking back Darius to his house and reveal his live self to Annie, his sister. Darren also told Annie that Darius was blooded by Steve as a vampaneze and he would kill the person he feeds from. Annie was told about the life and history of Darren. Darren blooded Darius so he can't kill as a Vampaneze and becomes a vampire instead. Darren, Alice Burgess, and Vancha would have to prepare for a break in at the stadium to save their friends and the Cirque performers. Darren and Vancha, as the prophecy goes, tailed Gannen Harst and Steve from the stadium and were ready for a final battle.The battle is brief. Vancha first fights both Gannen and Steve using only his hands. He then is wounded by Gannen, making him incapable to fight. Gannen was knocked out cold by R.V. shortly afterwards. R.V. was killed by Steve after that moment, leaving Darren and Steve to worry about each other only. As Darren predicted, he must face Steve alone. Darren fights Steve Leopard, who almost kills Darren. However, he sits on top of Darren after wounding him, gloating and boasting about his victory while stabbing him twice in the stomach. The exhausted Darren gets a burst of energy and is able to sneak in a fatal blow as Steve gloats, ending the drawn out battle. As Steve lays dying, however, Darren learns that Desmond Tiny has been responsible for the majority of his life's events. Tiny reveals that the two are half-brothers, and he their father. He has manipulated their lives in attempt bring about the end of humanity and vampires. The winner, regardless of who it may have been, is destined to destroy humanity which is the lord of the shadows. Desperate to avoid such a fate, Darren allows Steve to kill him before Steve dies, leaving both dead, and Tiny's prophecy unfulfilled. Darren emerges from death, finding himself in the Lake of Souls. Plagued by memories of the past, he begins to resign himself to an eternity of misery. At the last second, Evanna arrives, pulling him from the lake. With the help of his sister, Darren is transformed, traveling back through time. As a Little Person he prevents his younger self from seeing the confrontation between Steve and Mr Crepsley. Shortly thereafter, he visits Mr. Tall, giving him his diary. He asks him to send it to his untainted, current self, in hopes that he will publish it to the world (As today). As the story ends Darren dies, becoming a half-vampire,ready to see Crepsley again, his soul joining the universe.