Tiny (who had been watching from the balcony via opera glasses) eventually separates Steve and Darren. Crepsley stabs Murlough, and with his dying words Murlough declares that the truce between the two vampire clans has been broken. Rebecca frees herself using her monkey tail and offers Darren a taste of her blood. Trying to instigate a confrontation between Steve and Darren, Tiny kidnaps Rebecca and Darren's family, leaving a flyer for the Cirque du Freak at Darren's former home.ДЄt the theater, Crepsley fights with Murlough while Darren fights with Steve however, Darren's refusal to feed weakens him. Steve agrees, proceeding to kill high school history teacher Mr. Meanwhile, Steve, contemplating suicide after losing his best friend, is stopped by Tiny, who offers him a chance to become a Vampaneze, a race of vampires who (unlike Crepsley and others) murder their victims to feed on their blood. Crepsley fights him off and the two go to the Cirque du Freak campgrounds, where Darren meets Evra Von, the snake boy, and Rebecca, the monkey girl. However, after nearly attacking his own sister out of vampiric bloodlust, Darren decides to leave with Crepsley, who uses magic to stage Darren's death in a fall from a roof.ДЄfter being buried in a cemetery, Darren is dug up by Crepsley, but Murlough ambushes them. Darren agrees, only to flee while Crepsley administers an antidote to Steve. Initially annoyed and contemptuous, Crepsley agrees on the condition that Darren becomes a half-vampire and Crepsley's personal assistant. Darren returns to the theater and begs Crepsley for help. After a struggle in a crowded hallway, Madam Octa bites Steve on the cheek, leaving him to succumb to her deadly venom in the hospital.

The following day, Darren secretly brings Madam Octa to school, where she escapes.

The latter is unimpressed with Darren, dismissing him as a 'bag of blood,' but Tiny promises to stay in touch after dropping Darren off at his home. Tiny arrives in his limousine, accompanied by Murlough. Steve arrives, begging to be made into a vampire, but Crepsley refuses after tasting Steve's blood, which he says 'tastes of evil.' When Crepsley realizes that Madam Octa has been stolen, Darren flees from the theater with Crepsley hot on his trail. He goes backstage and impulsively steals her, but is forced to hide as Crepsley returns to his green room. Meanwhile, Darren is fascinated by Crepsley's spider, Madam Octa. During the performance, Steve recognizes one of the troupe's members, Larten Crepsley, as a vampire who is over a hundred years old, prompting him to try to find Crepsley after the show. In an unnamed American town, teenagers Darren Shan and Steve Leonard, Darren's more rebellious best friend and classmate, sneak out at night to attend the Cirque du Freak freak show at a local theater.

Cirque du freak free vampire novels