This is part of This Made Me, a HuffPost series paying tribute to the formative pop culture in our lives. Read more stories from the series here .

Ive been a die-hard fan of many things in my life, but nothing comes close to my love of Jennifers Body. Ive seen the film countless times both with and without the special DVD commentary tracks and yammered on about it all over the internet . I even have a Jennifers Body tattoo . (The other day, a guy on my street asked me who was inked on the back of my leg. To keep things brief I just said, Megan Fox.)

Jennifers Body, which I first watched at 16, follows the codependent friendship between Needy, a mousy sidekick played by Amanda Seyfried, and her seductive best friend, Jennifer, played by Megan Fox. At first, Jen is just a maneater in the metaphorical sense then an indie band mistakenly uses her as a virgin sacrifice, and she comes back as a succubus who must eat humans to remain beautiful.

I fell in love with the film for its irreverent humor (thanks, Diablo Cody), whip-smart direction (thanks, Karyn Kusama) and exquisite blend of horror and femininity. As a teen, the notorious makeout scene between Jennifer and Needy certainly didnt hurt, either.

If I could condense all the reasons I love Jennifers Body into book form, it would probably look a lot like Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Its transgressive and sexy and genre-defying, and it was clearly written by someone who loves both horror and women. When I learned that Machado would be releasing an essay on Jennifers Body as part of the upcoming anthology It Came from the Closet , I had to get my hands on it.

Machados essay, Both Ways, uses the film to explore common conceptions of bisexuality. Where does queerness end and begin? Is it really queerbaiting if a character genuinely doesnt know what she wants? Should we embrace bisexuality as a liminal space, or forever lament its squishiness?

Both Ways tackles these questions and more. I was lucky enough to sit down with Machado to unpack some of them as we fangirled over our favorite Sapphic succubus and stumbled into digressions about roller coasters, erotic freckles and my TikTok account.

HuffPost: So, so stoked to talk about Jennifers Body.

Carmen Maria Machado: Absolutely, me too. Im always excited to talk about it. And now Im excited that Ive done this essay because everyone wants to ask me about it.

Yes! So I read your essay, obviously, and I was intrigued when you said you note Jennifers Body among your favorite horror movies. What are some of the others?

Just off the top of my head, Alien is definitely one of my favorites. I have a soft spot for the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Midsommar is another huge favorite of mine.