Does anyone remember the Amazing Race? This book is kind of like that, assuming you're not Malaysian. You're dropped in the middle of the culture and then have to figure your way around based on textual clues. I thought this was pretty cool. I'm sure there were plenty of things I missed, but that was no obstacle to enjoyment.

It succeeds the way it does because the folklore isn't just the backdrop, but a living fabric that shapes and informs relationships between characters. And relationships, mainly those between women, are at the core of every story here.

Some things I learned while reading it:
-Manglish has great rhythm, but apparently Zen Cho is one of the few authors who uses it
-toyol is a type of spirit summoned from a dead fetus; it can be trained to steal things and commit petty mischief, but presumably it may learn other tricks ("The Earth Spirit's Favorite Anecdote" has some tips on the latter)
-some paranormal investigators in Singapore have scads of info on pontianak (this pertains to the excellent "House of Aunts")
-the orang minyak is basically Fedora Guy's ascended form (and "The Mystery of the Suet Swain" is by turns whimsical and chilling in laying this out. It has a thematic companion in "Prudence and the Dragon" but with less grease and realism, and more dragon.)
-it takes serious writing skill to be hilarious yet unsentimental, whimsical and realistic, dark yet optimistic (ok, I knew this already, but Zen Cho's writing is such a fantastic example of striking that balance that I feel I learned it all over again)

A seriously good collection. Read it.