What do you think?
Rate this book
Zodiac Chillers #6
Pisces Drowning
Jenna's grounded for visiting her boyfriend, Nicky. He's locked up for drowning his best friend. One dark night Nicky appears in Jenna's room. She believes in him - and helps prove his innocence. But on prom night she'll learn if Pisces should beware the sign of the Crab.
- GenresHorrorParanormal
170 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 1996
94 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Steiber
45 books15 followersELLEN 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 31, 2022
Zodiac Chillers was a mid-90s horror series by Random House. It had decent promotion, but apparently didn't do so hot as the planned 13-book series was canceled after this book. As a young teen, I devoured the first five books even as I also recognized they weren't all that great. My friend and I even ordered matching promo necklaces (a crescent moon pendant on a long black string) from the offer in the back of the first couple books. I never saw book 6 in stores and assumed the series was canceled before it was published, learning decades later I was wrong. I finally just now read it, and although I know I'm no longer in the target demographic (or decade, lol), honestly, this is TERRIBLE. I'm not sorry I tracked it down because I have completist tendencies, but dang this is stupid!
The story is about high school senior Jenna, an utter nitwit who's obsessed with her boyfriend, troubled kid Nicky, who Jenna's police detective father just so happens to have recently helped put away for 5 years for the drowning murder of the teens' friend Charlie. Jenna was sure it was an accident, but her dad states he knows otherwise and has forbidden her to ever contact Nicky again. Jenna moons around thinking about Nicky CONSTANTLY. It's exhausting, but the book tells us it's because they are both water signs and are permanently bonded or some shit. This is quite dull as Jenna seems to have no other friends to break the monotony, other than her school play co-star (a hot boy named Andrew who is crushing hard on her), and her pen pal Nolene who sends her letters with Jenna's horoscope (in annoyingly small print, might I add).
Now, Jenna conveniently has an attic bedroom, no siblings, and a single parent household, so while her dad is out at night doing his policeman stuff, Nicky escapes from juvie and sneaks up into her bedroom and they have a joyful reunion! Jenna begins plotting how to prove Nicky's innocence, whereas Nicky is more interested in plotting how they can run away together (although, okay fine, he'll wait for Jenna to star in "Romeo and Juliet" with Andrew, attend prom, and graduate first, since she insists!). Nicky starts noisily sneaking into and sleeping in Jenna's bed each night, and her dad comes close to catching him many times, but never really does and just believes his daughter the second she says she has no idea where Nicky could've escaped to (even though we're told her dad is "strict", and, as a detective, is presumably trained to spot an obvious lie). I mean, he's fooled from looking under her bed by the presence of her cat's tail. Oh hey, and Nicky steals her dad's gun "for protection" while her father is out - I think it was his service weapon no less! - her dad had it hidden in a fake book by his bed, unsecured. There's a whole lot of hoopla over who could've possibly taken her dad's gun! Could it be the missing prisoner who his daughter can't stop moping over? Daddy Dearest sternly confronts Jenna for about three seconds, but Jenna uses her "acting skills" to lie, and he's like "ok cool" and drops it, the same way he assumes the loud stomping noises upstairs at night are Jenna's "overweight cat". No basic security cameras or alarms or anything in this cop's house, huh?
What ultimately happens is (full spoilers after the jump):
The best things about this book are:
1. The aforementioned cat, named Ruffino
2. As with the previous books, I do like the cover art
3. The full list of all 13 Zodiac Chiller titles that had been planned is listed inside. I'm sad we will never get to read "Psycho Sagittarius"
4. There's a very brief excerpt from the unreleased book 7, The Thirteenth Sign, which is about a girl who meets an alien boy or something. Based on the snake symbol shown with the title, this book must indeed have been about Ophiuchus, the "serpent bearer" constellation that some have claimed should be included in the traditional zodiac as a thirteenth sun sign (and which comes up every few years in some buzzy clickbait article passed around on social media). (Fun fact - there's also been a minor push for a 14th zodiac sign called Cetus, the sea monster! Where's he at?)
The story is about high school senior Jenna, an utter nitwit who's obsessed with her boyfriend, troubled kid Nicky, who Jenna's police detective father just so happens to have recently helped put away for 5 years for the drowning murder of the teens' friend Charlie. Jenna was sure it was an accident, but her dad states he knows otherwise and has forbidden her to ever contact Nicky again. Jenna moons around thinking about Nicky CONSTANTLY. It's exhausting, but the book tells us it's because they are both water signs and are permanently bonded or some shit. This is quite dull as Jenna seems to have no other friends to break the monotony, other than her school play co-star (a hot boy named Andrew who is crushing hard on her), and her pen pal Nolene who sends her letters with Jenna's horoscope (in annoyingly small print, might I add).
Now, Jenna conveniently has an attic bedroom, no siblings, and a single parent household, so while her dad is out at night doing his policeman stuff, Nicky escapes from juvie and sneaks up into her bedroom and they have a joyful reunion! Jenna begins plotting how to prove Nicky's innocence, whereas Nicky is more interested in plotting how they can run away together (although, okay fine, he'll wait for Jenna to star in "Romeo and Juliet" with Andrew, attend prom, and graduate first, since she insists!). Nicky starts noisily sneaking into and sleeping in Jenna's bed each night, and her dad comes close to catching him many times, but never really does and just believes his daughter the second she says she has no idea where Nicky could've escaped to (even though we're told her dad is "strict", and, as a detective, is presumably trained to spot an obvious lie). I mean, he's fooled from looking under her bed by the presence of her cat's tail. Oh hey, and Nicky steals her dad's gun "for protection" while her father is out - I think it was his service weapon no less! - her dad had it hidden in a fake book by his bed, unsecured. There's a whole lot of hoopla over who could've possibly taken her dad's gun! Could it be the missing prisoner who his daughter can't stop moping over? Daddy Dearest sternly confronts Jenna for about three seconds, but Jenna uses her "acting skills" to lie, and he's like "ok cool" and drops it, the same way he assumes the loud stomping noises upstairs at night are Jenna's "overweight cat". No basic security cameras or alarms or anything in this cop's house, huh?
What ultimately happens is (full spoilers after the jump):
The best things about this book are:
1. The aforementioned cat, named Ruffino
2. As with the previous books, I do like the cover art
3. The full list of all 13 Zodiac Chiller titles that had been planned is listed inside. I'm sad we will never get to read "Psycho Sagittarius"
4. There's a very brief excerpt from the unreleased book 7, The Thirteenth Sign, which is about a girl who meets an alien boy or something. Based on the snake symbol shown with the title, this book must indeed have been about Ophiuchus, the "serpent bearer" constellation that some have claimed should be included in the traditional zodiac as a thirteenth sun sign (and which comes up every few years in some buzzy clickbait article passed around on social media). (Fun fact - there's also been a minor push for a 14th zodiac sign called Cetus, the sea monster! Where's he at?)
February 18, 2022
It's really a shame that this was the last of the perceived 13 books in this Zodiac Chiller series. What I have read of this series so far isn't half as bad as I thought it would be and I think it could have done fairly well.
This was released when Fear Street and Nightmare Hall were still big as young adult series and I like Ellen Steiber's writing style so I'm not really sure why they fizzled out but that's just me...
So Jenna and Nicky are a couple that have been together for four years and since she's a Pisces and he's a Cancer, their double water sign relationship has been going strong...at least until almost a year ago.
Nicky was accused of murdering his friend Charlie, drowning him, and Jenna's police officer father has forbid Jenna to have any contact with Nicky. Jenna writes him letters that she can't even send and playing Juliet in the school play, her co-star's face as Romeo is Nicky's every time she says her lines.
Then one night, Nicky runs away from Juvie and climbs into Jenna's window. So glad to have the boy she loves back, Jenna tells Nicky she is going to prove he's innocent so they can be together.
Nicky wants to be with Jenna too but how far will he go to keep their romance afloat on this stormy sea of love?
So yes it is a normal teen romance with a dark twist and again, I'm a sucker for that kind of plot.
One element might be easy to see coming from a mile away but there were parts I didn't see coming and I was kind of shocked. The Bill Schmidt cover art of this book is gorgeously eye-catching and very steamy I might add as well as quasi book accurate. The ending was a curveball and I like that it wasn't what I expected.
There is a lot of horoscope talk in the book so I was kind of intrigued about that as well as a lot of Romeo and Juliet quoting since Jenna is starring in the play so if you aren't into Shakespeare or astrological babble...it can get old.
So two down...three more to go and one to find for me regarding the Zodiac Chillers. Like Rage of Aquarius, I recommend Pisces Drowning for anyone interested in reading it.
This was released when Fear Street and Nightmare Hall were still big as young adult series and I like Ellen Steiber's writing style so I'm not really sure why they fizzled out but that's just me...
So Jenna and Nicky are a couple that have been together for four years and since she's a Pisces and he's a Cancer, their double water sign relationship has been going strong...at least until almost a year ago.
Nicky was accused of murdering his friend Charlie, drowning him, and Jenna's police officer father has forbid Jenna to have any contact with Nicky. Jenna writes him letters that she can't even send and playing Juliet in the school play, her co-star's face as Romeo is Nicky's every time she says her lines.
Then one night, Nicky runs away from Juvie and climbs into Jenna's window. So glad to have the boy she loves back, Jenna tells Nicky she is going to prove he's innocent so they can be together.
Nicky wants to be with Jenna too but how far will he go to keep their romance afloat on this stormy sea of love?
So yes it is a normal teen romance with a dark twist and again, I'm a sucker for that kind of plot.
One element might be easy to see coming from a mile away but there were parts I didn't see coming and I was kind of shocked. The Bill Schmidt cover art of this book is gorgeously eye-catching and very steamy I might add as well as quasi book accurate. The ending was a curveball and I like that it wasn't what I expected.
There is a lot of horoscope talk in the book so I was kind of intrigued about that as well as a lot of Romeo and Juliet quoting since Jenna is starring in the play so if you aren't into Shakespeare or astrological babble...it can get old.
So two down...three more to go and one to find for me regarding the Zodiac Chillers. Like Rage of Aquarius, I recommend Pisces Drowning for anyone interested in reading it.
November 8, 2023
some really DARK stuff in this, especially THAT ENDING
also, the way these books treat the zodiac and astrology in general is completely nonsensical, and I love it
also, the way these books treat the zodiac and astrology in general is completely nonsensical, and I love it
September 24, 2023
“If I were destined to drown with a male stranger, let him be a handsome hunk.” ~ Chen Pink, reviewer of ‘Pieces Drowning’
This was the first book in the ‘Zodiac Chillers’ series that I read, and it was unputdownable. I loved to read about the zodiac sign in the newspaper when I was a teenager and kind of believed in the compatibility of the romantic signs. I was not a Pieces or a Cancer like any of the main characters of this book.
What I loved was that this young love story was told in such a dramatic way that it involved a twist underwater. The suspense of the FMC, who finally found out about the boy he loved and the horror of the drowning experience between them, was so unforgettable until today, when I penned down this review in my 40s. Well done, Ellen Steiber!
This was the first book in the ‘Zodiac Chillers’ series that I read, and it was unputdownable. I loved to read about the zodiac sign in the newspaper when I was a teenager and kind of believed in the compatibility of the romantic signs. I was not a Pieces or a Cancer like any of the main characters of this book.
What I loved was that this young love story was told in such a dramatic way that it involved a twist underwater. The suspense of the FMC, who finally found out about the boy he loved and the horror of the drowning experience between them, was so unforgettable until today, when I penned down this review in my 40s. Well done, Ellen Steiber!
December 12, 2025
I finished this book in one day! This story had dramaaaa but it could’ve been elaborated more so it’s 3/5 but I’m going to give it a 4/5 because I enjoy the cover <3 soy piscis so I’m biased
December 12, 2010
I was surprised by the ending of the book and also confused on it. It didn't make too much sense to me but I think it was a really good story as it went through because of the situation the two main characters where in. I'm also a pieces so I was eager to read it more than maybe the average person.
Read
January 4, 2010I bought this book for the cover image, I admit it. It's tween fare.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews