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Vampire Circus
Vampire Circus
Nov 14, 2025 5:41 PM

Author:Mark Morris

Vampire Circus

‘Your children will die. Your community will die. To give me back my life.’

The small rural community of Shettle has fallen into a decline. It is rife with crime and its inhabitants plagued by ill-fortune. When the Circus of Nights arrives the people are drawn to it like moths to a flame: it’s as though they are bewitched.

Only four men realise that there is something terribly wrong. And as the town is enclosed in a barrier of ‘sickness’ through which no one can enter or leave, they must do their utmost to protect their loved ones, before it’s too late...

Reviews

This is a fast paced action story, one by which the reader is gripped, with echoes of other famous carnivals and circuses, such as that of Cougar and Dark. Morris takes our innocent fascination with such things and turns it into an entertaining novel.

—— Black Static

This is a sophisticated thriller with real characters, crisp writing, and a wicked sense of humour. Keep this book far, far away from your kids.

—— Douglas Preston

Ready to be haunted by the master? Red Rain proves he's got nightmares for us all

—— Brad Meltzer

Leave the lights on and the door locked. R.L. Stine is now scaring the bejeezus out of grown-ups. Red Rain will put goose bumps on even the toughest adult

—— Kathy Reichs

[T]he pacing couldn't be more perfect as the plot unwinds at a steady speed that maintains plausibility. Stine has written a really scary book, where seemingly impossible situations occur, yet, somehow, he makes them believable

—— Huffington Post

Stine masterfully builds suspense and I found myself aching to know what would happen next

—— io9

Leave the lights on and the door locked. R. L. Stine is now scaring the bejeezus out of grown-ups. Red Rain will put goosebumps on even the toughest adult

—— Kathy Reichs

This is the moment I've been terrified of - when R. L. Stine decided he wasn't just going to scare children, but that he would focus his power on frightening the rest of us. Ready to be haunted by the master? Red Rain proves he's got nightmares for us all

—— Brad Meltzer

There's simply no need to frighten somebody that much. But what else should we expect from the undisputed master of fear? R. L. Stine is a name synonymous with excellence . . . A dark, all-too-real tale that brings the unimaginable to life

—— Steve Berry

All the ingredients of an upmarket page-turner.

—— Max Davidson , Mail on Sunday

A story that brings alive an area of Camden that saw massive social change in a short space of time: the explosion of the railways and the shoe-horning of thousands of semi-starved people into slums provide a backdrop.

—— Dan Carrier , Camden New Journal

A devastating tale of subterfuge, poverty and privilege set in the cobbled streets of Victorian London.

—— Daily Record

Magnificent, bringing the Dickensian streets to grubby, teeming life

—— Eithne Farry , Daily Mail

Cements his reputation as an accomplished and challenging novelist… Though it takes place 130 years ago, the questions that The Streets poses about how, as a society and individuals, we tackle deprivation arguably remain just as pertinent

—— Peter Stanford , Independent

Quinn blends his history, his political concerns, his ideals, his plot and his characters elegantly, with a light hand and the pace of a thriller

—— Louisa Young , Daily Telegraph

Quinn’s most mature novel yet… His picture of poverty’s shaming, dehumanizing effect is powerful, and the recurrent call for pity heartfelt. Ms Eliot and Mr Dickens would surely approve

—— Holly Kyte , Sunday Telegraph

Anthony Quinn is a terrific storyteller. He has a thrilling knack for turning familiar periods of history into something surprising and often shocking, and for making the fortunes and misfortunes of his characters matter

—— Juliet Nicholson , Evening Standard

Displays the unsentimental yet powerful flair for romance that characterized his previous novel, Half of the Human Race. Perhaps most exciting of all, there is a sense that he is still writing within himself

—— Tom Cox , Sunday Times

Quinn brings the period in question vividly to life: his research is exemplary, and his subject absorbing

—— Lucy Scholes , Observer

All the ingredients of an upmarket page-turner

—— Max Davidson , Mail on Sunday

Ambitious, gripping and disturbingly well done

—— Kate Saunders , The Times

Beyond its splendid feel for the era’s chat and patter, the novel pits philanthropy and opportunism, ideals and selfishness, bracingly at odds

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

This novel is refreshingly different and contains a cornucopia of wonderful material and evocative descriptions

—— Good Book Guide

The best book I’ve read in ages… You have to read it.

—— Hilary Rose , The Times
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