Twisted Taurus

Zodiac Chillers #4

by Ellen Steiber

Lonely newcomer Darci is very impressed when wealthy, artistic--but decidedly spooky--Micaela befriends her, but she has no idea that Micaela wants Darci's brother Kurt, and is using witchcraft to get him

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult

169 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 1995

About the author

ELLEN STEIBER is a horror and fantasy writer for both adults and children. Her books for young readers include SQUEEZE, SHADOW OF THE FOX, and TALES OF THE GROSS AND GRUESOME. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Canino]

Celestially fun YA thriller wherein Michaela, a truly tWiStEd Taurus, flexes her green thumb by growing some spooky herbs and poisoning a bunch of her fellow high schoolers. Her master plan? Make them her unwitting zombie slaves so as to... well, it's a little unclear. But she ::really:: wants to date new girl Darci's thoroughly average brother Kurt, and she will absolutely bury alive whoever she has to in order to make this a boring reality.

Your horoscope reads: Avoid anyone who aggressively attempts to seduce you with their snake-like movements during an otherwise chaste round of the party game Twister. Not worth it, bro.

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay we have another pale-haired weirdo with strange colored eyes, so you know what that means:

Do. Not. Trust. Them.

But! Tbh Micaela is one of my favorite Bad Girls who ever Bad Girled. Truly the Twistiest.

Penchant for dramatics? Check.
Cool fringe hobbies like astrology, gardening and witchy chemistry? Check.
Glamorous goth-y black outfits? Check.

I mean, who do you know who could wear a dark green cloak in the dead of night (unironically) and pull it off?

Aside from her antisocial murdery behaviors and tendency towards seducing unsuspecting teen boys (that ~sexy Twister scene was low-key scandalous 😂), Micaela is the only interesting character in the whole book. I wish we could’ve seen more of her. 😈

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a Point Horror OR a Fear Street, but I'm sticking it on those shelves because they're obviously what prompted this series.
Of all the "let's cash in on the YA horror craze" books I've read, this is the strangest and arguably the stupidest, but damn it's fun. The Twisted Taurus in question is not only heavily into astrology but also cultivates her own poisonous plants, poisons the heroine (just a test! no biggie! oh look, convulsions) and the heroine's boyfriend (near fatally), tries to bury a girl alive, and regularly converses with the "dark powers" she thinks she's summoning. It's a book that throws every damn thing at the wall to see what sticks; there's also a voodoo doll, a Chinese doctor's medicine box (full of poisons, natch), and I'm probably forgetting some stuff.
Hands down the best scene is the witch girl playing a sexy game of Twister with the guy she likes (and his sister and one of his guy friends), using the opportunity to twist herself sensuously all over him. The word sinuous is used. She's a mega seductress, you guys. I damn near ended up in a coma myself at the effort to make "teen boy gets boner during Twister" sound sinister and erotic.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not entirely certain I ever read this one as a kid, because I feel like I would have remembered it. This was absolutely terrible, but somehow also completely awesome in that nostalgic 90's way.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was vert fitting to read this particular Zodiac Chiller since it is indeed the time for Taurus to shine in the zodiac calendar. Into astrology am I? Yes but not to the disturbing lengths of the lead character in this book: the indeed twisted Taurus Micaela James.

Taking it to unhealthy, unholy levels Micaela believes that one special boy and one special girl are destined to be her boyfriend and "bestest friend forever" to help her powers grow. This just so happens to be new to Northridge High siblings, Kurt and Darci Callahan.

Micaela works her way into being friends with Darci quiet easily thanks to her new girl status and wanting a friend. It is a toxic kind of friendship quite literally as Micaela specializes in poisons using henbane, foxglove, hellebore, deadly nightshade and a new one to try out called Hearts of Darkness...Darci her little lab rat.

It seems like Micaela is going to draw Darci and Kurt into her web just as planned but there are two things keeping that from happening: Kurt's girlfriend Kristin Harper and Ian Hassler's growing crush on Darci.

Stubborn Micaela isn't going to let anything like love stop her from getting everything she wants...no matter what.

I like the very paranormal love pentagram we have going on and I was all but ready to give this perhaps 4 out of 5 stars until I got to the climax and...the ending. Not that big of a spoiler but it leaves some loose ends and just seems so abrupt when I was really getting into the story *sigh*

Despite that, I'm not really seeing why this series didn't last longer. The premise of using the zodiac is interesting (this is not exactly new I've seen other books that use it) for horror/thriller tales so I'm very confused. Maybe the 90s were just not the right time or introducing books directed at a YA audience using astrology just wasn't written...in the stars?

I'll see myself out now...

[Alison Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read for me. I discovered this book as a tween and loved it for all of its cheesy occult and botany lore intertwined with the 90s teen romance. This book was a pleasant nostalgic journey.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much as a kid.

[Rebekah Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many people believe taurus soulmate are easy to find. Given the nature of taurus zodiac sign, this is one of the most difficult zodiac signs to have a relationship with.

[Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m rating on a curve here but this was fun and witchy.

[Kristin]

DNF at 28%. Will pick up again later.