Her Body and Other Parties

Her Body and Other Parties is a collection of eight short stories that blend elements of horror, science fiction, and folklore with contemporary issues. The book was published by Graywolf Press in 2017 and received multiple literary accolades, including the Shirley Jackson Award. The stories range from a retelling of a classic horror tale about a woman with a mysterious ribbon around her neck to a 272-episode remix of Law & Order: SVU. The collection includes both previously published works from various literary journals and two original pieces written specifically for this volume. Each story centers on women's experiences with their bodies, sexuality, and relationships, often incorporating supernatural or speculative elements. The narratives explore marriage, motherhood, violence, desire, and illness through a lens that merges realism with the uncanny. The collection presents a fresh examination of gender dynamics and bodily autonomy, using genre-bending techniques to illuminate the ways society both reveres and restricts women's physical forms.

Readers describe the stories as dark, queer horror that blends psychological suspense with body horror and feminist themes. The collection received high marks for its experimental style and ability to unsettle. What readers liked: - Fresh takes on familiar horror tropes - LGBTQ+ representation and female perspectives - The Law & Order: SVU story resonated with fans - Inventive structure and form What readers disliked: - Some stories felt too abstract or difficult to follow - Uneven quality across the collection - Several readers found the longer pieces repetitive - Some felt the experimental style overshadowed the narratives Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (87,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (1,400+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (1,200+ ratings) Common reader comment: "Beautiful writing but not all stories land equally well." Many note the first and last stories as the strongest, with middle entries receiving mixed responses.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca A novella told through email exchanges chronicles the descent of two women into psychological horror through their virtual relationship.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter This collection reimagines classic fairy tales through a feminist lens, focusing on the female body and desire in darkly sensual narratives.

Tender by Sofia Samatar These stories blend genres to explore memory, identity, and the intersection of bodies with technology and magic.

You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian Short stories examining power dynamics in relationships through elements of horror and dark comedy with particular focus on women's experiences.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi A gothic novel about a young woman whose relationship with her ancestral home and hereditary eating disorder blends psychological horror with magical realism.

☆ The book won the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Award - marking one of the rare occasions a short story collection reached NBA finalist status. ☆ The story "Especially Heinous" reimagines 272 episodes of Law & Order: SVU, featuring ghost doppelgängers of Benson and Stabler and turning the procedural format into a surreal horror narrative. ☆ Machado drew inspiration for several stories from classic urban legends and fairy tales, including "The Green Ribbon" from the children's story "The Girl With the Green Ribbon" in Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room. ☆ The collection explores the concept of "body horror" - a subgenre traditionally dominated by male authors - through a distinctly feminine and queer perspective, making it a groundbreaking work in contemporary horror literature. ☆ One of the book's most discussed stories, "The Husband Stitch," references the extra suture sometimes given to women after childbirth - a controversial medical practice that became a powerful metaphor for bodily autonomy in feminist discourse.