Tales of deadly machinery have long fascinated us, from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic pendulum to the Terminator films. Murder and Machinery pays homage to this tradition, offering you gripping tales following this theme but set in different times and places, from colonial America and London during the First World War to dystopian futures on this planet and beyond. Never before has an anthology brought tales of science fiction and suspense together in such a terrifying way, showcasing the nightmarish imagination of authors who know how to play on the reader’s fears and who share those fears of uncontrollable machines, or perhaps even more frightening, of fellow humans mastering technology for their own evil purposes.

A word of advice before you start. By all means, settle down in your living room and let this anthology of technological terror and mechanical madness enthral you, but first, you might want to lock your doors and switch the power off at the mains. Best keep it low-tech tonight. Trust me. I hope you have candles?

The Secret Zeppelin - Duncan Richardson

Selfie - Linda Brucesmith

Fargan’s Termination - Paul Williams

A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way - Chisto Healy

The Box - Sarah Jane Justice

The Wheel - Michael Picco

The Wedge - Kurt Newton

Tenterhooks - Cameron Trost

Leonora - Danielle Birch

Vanitas - James Dorr

Don - Steve Dubois

Foul Beasts - Karen Bayly

A Whole New World - KG McAbee

Suicide Blonde - Paulene Turner

Driverless - Robert Bagnall

The Screen in the Sky - Kerilee S. Nickles

Anxiety about machines taking over our existence and eventually becoming the catalyst for our destruction as a species is not a new concept. However, it is one that seems to have been shoved to the back of the fear line in the last decade, the dark fiction genres instead overrun with zombies, serial killers, and spirit possessions. We’ve forgotten, it seems, that the scariest creatures are the ones we usher willingly into our own homes. Luckily, the authors of Murder and Machinery: Tales of Technological Terror and Mechanical Madness are here to remind us. In a potluck of dystopian, steampunk, and sci-fi-inspired horror, Murder and Machinery has something for every speculative fiction fan, especially those for whom creepiness is best served on cold metal. - Rebecca Rowland, posted on Ginger Nuts of Horror