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Dan Henk

Goodreads Author

Born

in Fort Campbell, The United States

Website

https://www.danhenk.com

Twitter

AuthorDanHenk

Genre

Fiction, Art, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

H.P. Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick, Richard Matheson, Alan Moore, John St ...more

Member Since

December 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/danhenk

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Dan’s early career included a year-and-a-half stint drawing political cartoons for Madcap Magazine and Maximum Rock and Roll.

In 1997, after a violent car crash and a knife fight with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb, he attended art school. Receiving commercial and gallery acclaim for his artwork locally, he moved to New York City.

Immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands Shai Hulud, Indecision, Coalesce, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, Zombie Apocalypse, Unsound, Kid Gorgeous, Neck, Lariat, The End, Compression, Koshari, and Proof of Purchase. In 2000, he started tattooing. A year later, in September 2001, he was stricken with brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy, Dan’s early career included a year-and-a-half stint drawing political cartoons for Madcap Magazine and Maximum Rock and Roll.

In 1997, after a violent car crash and a knife fight with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb, he attended art school. Receiving commercial and gallery acclaim for his artwork locally, he moved to New York City.

Immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands Shai Hulud, Indecision, Coalesce, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, Zombie Apocalypse, Unsound, Kid Gorgeous, Neck, Lariat, The End, Compression, Koshari, and Proof of Purchase. In 2000, he started tattooing. A year later, in September 2001, he was stricken with brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Three months after the surgery, he married fellow tattoo artist Monica Castillo. After a brief trip down south, which included owning a short-lived tattoo shop with the infamous Joe Truck, he returned to Manhattan. His work started appearing in a growing number of tattoo magazines and more fine art-influenced outlets such as Infected by Art, Aphrodisia, Cranial Visions, Eight Arms of Inspiration, Pint Sized Paintings, Excavate, Visions of the Virgin Mary, and The Tarot Project. Tattoo-related books such as No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever, Pandemonium, Tattoo Prodigies 1 , Tattoo Prodigies 2, Black and White Tattoos, and Inside the Tattoo Circus: A Journey Through the Modern World of Tattoos also included features. Tragedy struck again in 2007, as his wife of 6 years, Monica Henk, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Despite extensive coverage in the local media and vigorous campaigns by both the tattoo and motorcycle communities, the culprit was never found. He moved to Austin, Texas, for three years and started doing the comic strip “Rollo & Me” for Tattoo Artist Magazine. Illustrations for Black Static Magazine and This is Horror followed suit. His first novel, The Black Seas of Infinity, was published by Anarchy Books in 2011. Deadite Press released the first book with a cover by Dan, a novel entitled “The Sopaths” by author Piers Anthony. A limited-edition chapbook, “Christmas Is Cancelled,” came out courtesy of Splatterpunk in 2013, and in 2014, he started columns for Tattoo Revue and Skin Art. A reissue of his debut novel was released by Permuted Press in April 2015, as well as a collection of his short stories, “Down Highways In The Dark…By Demons Driven”.

Continuing his work for independent magazines, he created illustrations for Black Static Magazine, Red Door Magazine, The Horror Zine, Litro Magazine, a slew of books by the imprint Out Of Step, and every issue so far of the British horror zine Splatterpunk. The books “Splatterpunks Not Dead “, “Splatterpunk Fighting Back“, “Past Indiscretions-The Very Best of Splatterpunk“, Insatiable, Bloodstains, Tales for Dark Hours, and a joint series by Marc Anthony May entitled “The Red Death” and “The Flood” all featured his covers.

His third book, “The End of the World,” debuted in March of 2018, followed in 2023 by the heavily illustrated anthology (courtesy of Dan Henk) “The Never Dead.

The 2024 and 2025 anthologies “Head Blown Off Too” and “Tumble Bleed” included his work, and 2025 saw the debut of his latest anthology “The Joke is on Mankind”.

Join his email list on https://danhenk.com/newsletter/ if you want to be notified when he releases new work

"Life is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind."
-HP Lovecraft ...more

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Dan Henk’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 138 ratings · 62 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Black Seas of Infinity 3.75 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Never Dead by Dan Henk (Goodreads Author), Jeff Strand (Goodreads Author), Tim Curran 4.33 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2023 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Down Highways in the Dark...By Demons Driven 4.44 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The End of the World 4.38 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Christmas Is Cancelled 4.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Joke is on Mankind by Dan Henk (Goodreads Author), Christine Morgan, Cody Goodfellow (Goodreads Author) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oh the Horror... The Horror 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Black Seas of Infinity really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fort Bragg it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Watching the World Burn it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Dan Henk's Blog

A Little Christmas Madness

This is the illustration I did for the story “A Little Christmas Mayhem” by Jeff Strand. In his usual blend of horror and dark humor, he weaves the tale of a homeless man who, after stealing a Santa suit, goes on a gleeful killing spree. A cropped version of the art was used for the cover as well.
Join my email list on https://danhenk.com/newsletter/ if you want to be notified when I release new wo

Dan is Currently Reading

Dan Henk is currently reading

Against Religion: The Atheist Writings of H.P. Lovecraft

by H.P. Lovecraft

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May 27, 2024 10:21PM

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Dan Henk wrote a new blog post Squash This was the illustration I did for the Nat Robinson story “Squash” in issue #3 of Splatterpunk Zine, and was the first (and to date only) time my dra Read more of this blog post »
Nov 30, 2025 10:15PM · like
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Dan Henk liked Dan Henk's blog post: My new Kickstarter Campaign "When I first moved to NYC in 1998, I wanted to be a comic artist. Before they folded, Kitchen Sink, Caliber, and Paradox Press all showed interest.An inker for DC Comics, who also worked as an art teacher at Pratt, loved my work and set me up with..." Read more of this blog post »
Oct 06, 2025 02:57PM
Dan Henk liked Dan Henk's blog post: Deserved comeuppance! "Deserved comeuppance! A murdering skinhead gets his spine ripped out by someone he thought he killed.As a teenage punk rocker (I had the mohawk, the boots, the painted leather jacket, the works), I remember some of our biggest antagonists were ..." Read more of this blog post »
Oct 06, 2025 02:57PM
Dan Henk liked Dan Henk's blog post: Eulogy for Monica "Eulogy for MonicaNot to beat a dead horse too much into the ground, but when I get on the topic of Monica, it brings back a flood of memories that are hard to let go.This is a photo she had taken, I believe, in Colombia, before she met me, but I f..." Read more of this blog post »
Oct 06, 2025 02:57PM
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Sep 27, 2025 12:31AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Joke is on Mankind by Dan Henk. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Joke is on Mankind by Dan Henk <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dan Henk made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — This keeps timing out before I can respond topic " Liralen wrote: "One is Kindle, one is paperback. Moved and combined. It might take a while for updates to show." Thanks, everything looks good now. ...more "
Jul 15, 2025 10:00AM
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Dan’s Quotes

“My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky.”
― Alan Moore

tags: life

6801 likes

“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”
― Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

tags: democracy, equality, government, misattributed

3481 likes

“Stood in firelight, sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night.

Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion; bear children, hell-bound as ourselves, go into oblivion. There is nothing else.

Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It’s us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank world.

Was Rorschach.

Does that answer your Questions, Doctor?”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen

tags: atheism, war

975 likes

“From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, Tales of H.P. Lovecraft

tags: horror, irony

1650 likes

“But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean. Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent. All my days have I watched it and listened to it, and I know it well. At first it told to me only the plain little tales of calm beaches and near ports, but with the years it grew more friendly and spoke of other things; of things more strange and more distant in space and in time. Sometimes at twilight the grey vapours of the horizon have parted to grant me glimpses of the ways beyond; and sometimes at night the deep waters of the sea have grown clear and phosphorescent, to grant me glimpses of the ways beneath. And these glimpses have been as often of the ways that were and the ways that might be, as of the ways that are; for ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness

26 likes

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