Horrorscope

Finally Jenny Warren left the protective light of the streetlamp behind. She walked fast, her shoes tapping on the sidewalk.
In the shadow of the night, the watcher smiled. His hands tightened their grip on the scarf. “You should have paid attention, Jenny,” he whispered to himself. “Didn’t you read your horoscope today?”

Horrorscope Nicholas Adams Book Cover

GOT U COVERED 📘

Author: Nicholas Adams

Published: 1992

Tagline: Today will be your day…to die.

Genre: Slasher, Thriller, Young Adult

Cover Description: Placed atop a zodiac-sign mat, a glaring and open-mouthed skull with a bloodied arrow across it.

“According to your horoscope, today will be pretty good, especially in the afternoon. As for me, I’m going to have problems all day long. But there’s no sign of any yet” - pg. 11

After watching the film Tarot, based on this book, I had to see whether the source material was as thin as that film was. Once I’d finished the book, I was quite surprised at how little they have to do with each other…well, except for the use of horoscopes and tarot. I’m not sure why the film went in a supernatural direction and focused mainly on tarot cards, because what Nicholas Adams wrote was far more interesting than what we got from that film.

The way this book gripped me and kept me smiling from ear to ear, I’m honestly shook.

Even though I didn’t finish it in one sitting, when I kept coming back to where I left off, I could jump right back into the story as if no time had passed. I was highly invested in this narrative because it harkened back to a time of horror that felt very familiar and quite honestly, comforting. This movie could’ve easily been adapted as a late 90s teen horror and if done right, been a cousin of slasher films like Urban Legend or Cherry Falls. It had just enough silliness within the plot to make it fun-escapist horror but featured kill scenes and a Giallo-esque killer that gave it that much-needed thrilling punch.

I need to give some kudos to Nicholas Adams because a large reason why I enjoyed the book was due to how well-written it was. I love it when I find an author who writes in a way that makes me want to explore their other work. Understandably, it could be hit-or-miss down the line, but for right now, I love his writing style. He wrote these teens in a way that felt like actual teens with actual substance. Even though some were victims of the killer, which typically requires there to be disposable, one-dimensional characters, he was able to inject some backstory and complexity into them briefly so that they weren’t just another number on the body count. I was able to guess the killer pretty early, but I also loved how Nicholas Adams didn’t treat his characters as if they were dumb. He allowed them to actively participate in the mystery and use their logic to think of plausible possibilities.

This extended into how I received the main character Robyn. I warmed up to her almost immediately. She isn’t your typical popular, bitchy character that we so often get in YA pulp fiction. Aspects of her personality and family life made her feel like a grounded, regular teen. She is also quite funny and had me chuckling with things she said and observed. Her budding romance with Jeff developed organically and blossomed into what I had hoped for them by the time the book was over because it felt like a true depiction of the teen crush journey. Of course, she’s the main character because she is into Horoscopes and I was again impressed that Nicholas Adams made her very knowledgeable in this area. Robyn wasn’t just writing silly two-liners for the school paper but also used quite a bit of logic and smarts when it came to astrology. The girl could read you down with a birth chart. She knew her shit, especially when she had her rebuttal with Jeff over Astrology’s significance, its place within science, and then again when figuring out the motive and next moves of the killer.

“Debi hated to ruin her friend’s happiness, but sooner that than have her end up a victim, too” - pg. 11

Speaking of Astrology, we do have to mention how it was used as a plot device and motive. Each new chapter starts with an Astrological sign and a short two-line reading — usually very negative because I’m sure no killer seeks to kill on a positive note 😏. These readings are written by Robyn, for the school paper, but she uses a pen name. Somebody has taken these readings as inspiration for their killing spree. I thought the readings were so silly and didn’t have much to them, but that also helped show the craziness inside the killer’s head once they were revealed. Every killer needs an intricate, convoluted plan for his victims and this was the perfect story device to give the killer a reason for all the theatrics. Once you read this book, you’ll see how this story is so 80s and 90s, and why it would have been a good adaptation for a slasher to be set in that time.

One disappointing writing choice was that the kills were written and described rather quickly. Perhaps having it more drawn out would increase the tension or leave room for a chase scene, but at the same time, I’m just being greedy because I enjoyed the book and wanted more of it. The quickness and efficiency speak to how swift the killer is, so I also get why it was written that way. 

The climax of this book has a lot of action and of course, tries to steer you in another direction, but by then I had cemented who the killer was so I wasn’t taken aback at the obvious. I like how even the characters who survived realized how obvious it was and that they had overlooked what was right in front of them. There were all the traditions of a finale at play: the killer reveal, the monologue, the “now I have to kill you” speech, the protagonist vs antagonist fight, and the cops coming right after everything had just transpired. Very paint by numbers, but in a good and comforting way.

If you’re a slasher fan then I’d highly recommend this book, particularly if you have an appreciation for 80s and 90s slashers. This will scratch that itch for sure. It’s a fun, good-time read that can get you through a summer weekend and have your love of teen horror re-energized.

I grade this book A-

Did you like this book? Do you believe in Astrology or Tarot? Share your thoughts and comments below 💭