Claw Machine: A Speculative and Dark Fiction Anthology

by Elle Mitchell, Angelique O'Rourke, Beth Cook

When you hear of claw machines, what do you picture?

In this anthology, claw machines aren’t just beacons for lost dollars and frustration, packed with cheap toys that rarely make it home with us. The claw machine is a game, a curse, a tool, even a drug-induced metaphor. It has omens of death, portals to other dimensions, plushies that aren't what they seem, eggs filled with wishful thinking, society's view on perfection, and so much more.

Claw Machine is a collection of stories, with a special introduction, written by 18 established and emerging authors. Their unique speculative stories and dark fiction will grab and pull you in. Unlike the arcade game, you'll definitely walk away with something after reading these stories.

*Stories by Angelique O'Rourke, Angela Yuriko Smith, Beth Cook, Curtis C. Chen, Elle Mitchell, Erik Grove, J.B. Kish, Katherine Quevedo, Laura K. Burge, Marriane Xenos, Mark Teppo, Pia Baur, Sarah Walker, Simone Cooper, Summer Olsson, Valerie Geary, Wes Mitchell / Introduction by Will Errickson / Edited by Elle Mitchell

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 14, 2025