In these unique and wildly imaginative stories, Matthew J. Trafford pairs crisp diction with unpredictable plots: you think you’re going to arrive on the third floor, but the elevator takes you to another floor altogether, and it turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

The characters in these stories run the gamut from a fame-seeking man who butchers a mermaid to a Polish geneticist who clones Jesus Christ, but they are all united by a sharp longing or anxiety. At the core of each story is an engaging what if scenario: What if your son disappeared into a fanatic cult? What if Apple invented software that could grant you any wish?

Despite these flights of fancy, Trafford never allows his wild ideas to outpace the emotional plights of his characters. Scientific plausibility and sociological resonance also bolster the stories, and help make the fantastic feel a little more possible. Only on rare occasions does he push things so far into left field that he risks losing readers with an affinity for straight naturalism.

Trafford employs some innovative ­stylistic techniques, including a mock-Wikipedia entry and a split-screen effect that has two perspectives unfold concurrently, separated by a vertical line down the page. These narrative tricks don’t always work: “Forgetting Helen,” for example, gets too hokey, and the excessive footnotes in “The Grimpils” feel more like a jarring gimmick than a text-enhancing narrative device. But the attempts to explore new narrative strategies are nonetheless admirable, and the collection’s powerhouse stories – “Thoracic Exam,” “Gutted,” “The Renegade Angels of Parkdale,” and the title story – more than make up for any shaky moments.

This collection is a must for readers looking for something fresh amid a sea of stale books, introducing Trafford as a surprising and innovative new writer.