Claw Machine: A Speculative and Dark Fiction Anthology

by Elizabeth 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 Angela Yuriko Smith, Angelique O'Rourke, Beth Cook, Curtis C. Chen, Elle Mitchell, Erik Grove, J.B. Kish, Katherine Quevedo, Laura Burge, Marianne Xenos, Mark Teppo, Pia Baur, Sarah Walker, Simone Cooper, Summer Olsson, Valerie Geary, Wes Mitchell, with an introduction by Will Errickson. Edited by Elle Mitchell.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 14, 2025

About the author

Elizabeth Mitchell is a disabled author, multidisciplinary artist, and publisher who's lived many lives. Her work challenges, blends genres, explores haunted bodies, and delves into the human psyche. She's a social activist, a gamer with potato aim, and an avid reader. As a woman with several invisible illnesses, she enjoys living a semi-horizontal life with her husband and spoiled furbutts in the PNW. Her writing is also under Elle. Find her at https://www.justanotherelizabeth.com/.