When I finished this book it felt almost like a weight was lifted--not in a bad way--like, it was so pervasive it almost put me in a trance. It POSSESSED me, if you will.

Just last night I was stepping off the subway, about 3/4ths of the way through the story "The Resident" and felt like I was swaying, looked around me like everything was a little bit sharp and blurry at the same time. Machado's ability to slither into one's brain cannot be overlooked.

The stories are weird and beautiful and hilarious and horrifying. She's to writing what David Lynch is to filmmaking; surreal and trying to get to your visceral core while splattering out her own innards. I was nervously laughing at times but then gulping in anticipation. I shuddered occasionally.

For me, there was only one story that was just okay, while the others left me wondering and questioning and shaken. But, I like writing like this. I had a lot of great discussions with other people about Machado's story "Especially Heinous" which is a story of ten seasons worth of SVU episode recaps, except, um, it veers very Lovecraft, very Lynch. And perhaps that's why while reading I kept thinking of watching Twin Peaks last summer, and what a great idea it is to bring this to television, though I don't know quite how they'll do it with some of these. I'll be watching, that's for sure.

I cannot recommend this to everyone; if you don't like weird and quagmirish writing: stay away. If you need stories with pat endings: stay away. If you are into strange tales that you can't quite grasp but love trying to dissect: welcome. These stories inhabited me, and now I must attempt to shake off these Machado vibes (and like that, she's an adjective like The Greats) and dive into something completely different. It was a great October read.