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The End of the World
In a not-too-distant future, the US has fallen into near social and economic ruin. As the fringe elements of society and ordinary citizens alike struggle to deal with the terrifying new reality, a maelstrom of governmental deceit and malevolence churns just beneath the surface.
Against this chaotic backdrop, strange new beings have risen out of the rubble. A former government worker, who in a fit of obsession and delusion steals and inhabits alien technology during a violent raid… A teenager whose reality contorts, making him privy to the cries of the dead as he stumbles in and out of worlds in a surreal game of musical chairs… Soon things take a dark turn for the newly emerged pariahs.
A long-running conspiracy involving a highly proficient military-industrial complex is attempting to resurrect an ancient horror, and the very outsiders laboring to cope with the dangerously altered state of the world might be the only ones who can do anything about it.
Against this chaotic backdrop, strange new beings have risen out of the rubble. A former government worker, who in a fit of obsession and delusion steals and inhabits alien technology during a violent raid… A teenager whose reality contorts, making him privy to the cries of the dead as he stumbles in and out of worlds in a surreal game of musical chairs… Soon things take a dark turn for the newly emerged pariahs.
A long-running conspiracy involving a highly proficient military-industrial complex is attempting to resurrect an ancient horror, and the very outsiders laboring to cope with the dangerously altered state of the world might be the only ones who can do anything about it.
- GenresHorrorScience Fiction
298 pages, Paperback
First published March 20, 2019
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Dan Henk
11 books38 followersDan’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, 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”.
In December of 2025, the anthology Horrorific Tales Volume 4, Eldritch Horror featured his story Northern Frontiers.
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
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, 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”.
In December of 2025, the anthology Horrorific Tales Volume 4, Eldritch Horror featured his story Northern Frontiers.
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
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 22, 2020
Prepper fiction meets space aliens!
The End of the World was entertaining fiction. The start seemed a little bit slow, I had a hard time keeping track of the different characters at first (probably because I couldn't read more than 5 minutes at a time with the real-life quarantine going on and all of my kids home from school). The pace picked up just before the midway point of the book where the main characters story lines became clearer.
The story follows an ex-government employee who stole some advanced alien tech, a teenager punk who has powers he doesn't understand and can't control, and a couple of alien races en-route to the Earth for some Armageddon style destruction. I enjoyed the mystery of the story, the main (human) characters don't really understand what is happening to them. I felt that same sense of confusion, discovery and anticipation as I read - definitely in a good way. The story kept me engaged, wanting to learn about and discover what was happening to society, earth and the universe. There are references throughout the story to cool alien conspiracy theories (ala Graham Norton) that are worth a side read. Also if you are into prepper fiction there's some entertaining and relatable bits in the story for you too.
Overall I would recommend this book, it was a relatively quick read, had good pacing and left me wanting more in a sequel. (hint, hint Dan Henk)
The End of the World was entertaining fiction. The start seemed a little bit slow, I had a hard time keeping track of the different characters at first (probably because I couldn't read more than 5 minutes at a time with the real-life quarantine going on and all of my kids home from school). The pace picked up just before the midway point of the book where the main characters story lines became clearer.
The story follows an ex-government employee who stole some advanced alien tech, a teenager punk who has powers he doesn't understand and can't control, and a couple of alien races en-route to the Earth for some Armageddon style destruction. I enjoyed the mystery of the story, the main (human) characters don't really understand what is happening to them. I felt that same sense of confusion, discovery and anticipation as I read - definitely in a good way. The story kept me engaged, wanting to learn about and discover what was happening to society, earth and the universe. There are references throughout the story to cool alien conspiracy theories (ala Graham Norton) that are worth a side read. Also if you are into prepper fiction there's some entertaining and relatable bits in the story for you too.
Overall I would recommend this book, it was a relatively quick read, had good pacing and left me wanting more in a sequel. (hint, hint Dan Henk)
Read
October 25, 2019DNF at 60%. Not working for me.
June 16, 2019
I've read a lot of Dan's work, and this is easily his best to date. I read it on Kindle, and I was so into it that I was unprepared for how quickly the ending snuck up on me. It's the sequel to Black Seas of Infinity, and so I highly recommend getting started with that one. I had no quite finished it yet, but I had read all of Down Highways in the Dark, so that helped. I bought Black Seas too, so now I have almost an entire collection. The End of the World reintroduces Dave from Black Seas and Aaron from Down Highways, and it's a trippy, engrossing, gore-splattered ride through a semi-post-apocalyptic United States. Dave is easily my favorite character.
If you are in the select market for a tear-your-face-off race against the powers that threaten to engulf and destroy us all for their own ends, Dan Henk delivers again with The End of the World.
If you are in the select market for a tear-your-face-off race against the powers that threaten to engulf and destroy us all for their own ends, Dan Henk delivers again with The End of the World.
May 13, 2020
This was the first Dan Henk book I read and it was a very well written story. I should have read his first two books first, but either way I’m going be starting the Black Seas of Infinity Next. I highly recommend.
April 7, 2020
Henk displays expert level description and approaches details like a painter. An intriguing and in all honesty fun look at the end of civilization as we know it. A nice blending of horror and Sci-fi and horror from a renowned artist.
November 7, 2019
Dan Henk’s novel kept me entertained yet again with his descriptive writing style. The vivid imagery paints a picture in your mind as you read. This third book in a series includes characters and background from the previous novels. While you could certainly read this as a stand alone book, I did enjoy reading them all in order. I felt The End of the World tied the two previous stories together very well. I was left curious at the end of the second book and looked forward to reading this. Dan Henk did not disappoint if you enjoy Science Fiction I recommend checking out this and his other Novels and short stories.
April 16, 2020
An interesting book, but hard to describe. The two main characters are a mid-20s "loser" who can spontaneously step into another place/dimension and a scientist who transplants his consciousness into an unstoppable alien body/tool. There are aliens and an even greater evil that has to be stopped. I have questions that the book doesn't provide answers for, but for some reason, that doesn't bother me with this story. The violence is very graphic and perhaps gratuitous. I'd read a sequel.
August 18, 2020
Chaos is all around, teens are put into situations where they have to grow up fast, loners have to help others and the government is being the government - trying to take over everything being led by a small group of old men with means. This book was easy to read but uneasy at the same time. Easy from the standpoint of it sucking you into the times, places and characters with great detail and being able to see and almost smell exactly what the author was writing about. The imagery is such that I could see myself being right there witnessing it. It was uneasy from the standpoint of seeing parallels to our current world. With a few exceptions (maybe?) this could take place tomorrow. The author brings in real life and real world situations while tying in an element of Science Fiction. It was a good read.
July 24, 2024
Stunning sci-fi apocalyptic horror story! From the very beginning I was whisked away into this world that is falling apart. Robust and well developed characters I definitely developed a soft spot for Aaron and David.
The POV does change from first person to third person throughout the book, so if that bothers you then you might not like this book. I actually found that it was very fitting for David's chapters to be in first person. I felt more connected to him.
I also really enjoyed the illustrations peppered through the story. When I came upon the first one it was a surprise and I couldn't wait to see the next one. The author is also an artist and drew not only the cover but the interior illustrations as well.
Cover to cover I enjoyed every page.
The POV does change from first person to third person throughout the book, so if that bothers you then you might not like this book. I actually found that it was very fitting for David's chapters to be in first person. I felt more connected to him.
I also really enjoyed the illustrations peppered through the story. When I came upon the first one it was a surprise and I couldn't wait to see the next one. The author is also an artist and drew not only the cover but the interior illustrations as well.
Cover to cover I enjoyed every page.
March 15, 2022
Wow. I was excited to get my hands on some new sci-fi horror from a new-to-me author, but this book exceeded my expectations. The End of the World by Dan Henk is a visual, suspenseful, and gory journey through an intense what-if. Despite its intriguing title, it’s not just another apocalypse story.
Henk sets the stage and draws you in with vivid imagery, but don’t misunderstand me there, this is a fast-paced tale, so buckle up and stay sharp or you might miss something. The writing style is unique and immersive, visual, brutal, with a touch of the unexpected. Not only do chapters change character perspective, one character’s perspective is told in first person and you can almost hear him speaking directly to you as events are unfolding. It makes for interesting interludes. It’s obviously a daring creative choice, but Henk pulls it off beautifully. There is a lot going on in this story; it’s as much about the characters as it is the events. I felt the chaos and fear, smelled the burning and the blood, and at the same time found myself mentally caught up in trying to work out the psychology and mystery of it all.
And here’s why.
In a feat of epic cleverness, the author uses real life events and situations as a catalyst of the political and economic collapse of the US (mentioned in the synopsis) and draws on real archaeology to fuel the sci-fi aspects. He weaves these together with interesting, vivid characters to create an incredible story that is not to be missed.
Just wow. Full disclosure, yeah, it could use a bit of a proofread, but it wasn’t enough to diminish my enjoyment of the story. I really enjoyed the story. It’s one I will read again and again.
Henk sets the stage and draws you in with vivid imagery, but don’t misunderstand me there, this is a fast-paced tale, so buckle up and stay sharp or you might miss something. The writing style is unique and immersive, visual, brutal, with a touch of the unexpected. Not only do chapters change character perspective, one character’s perspective is told in first person and you can almost hear him speaking directly to you as events are unfolding. It makes for interesting interludes. It’s obviously a daring creative choice, but Henk pulls it off beautifully. There is a lot going on in this story; it’s as much about the characters as it is the events. I felt the chaos and fear, smelled the burning and the blood, and at the same time found myself mentally caught up in trying to work out the psychology and mystery of it all.
And here’s why.
In a feat of epic cleverness, the author uses real life events and situations as a catalyst of the political and economic collapse of the US (mentioned in the synopsis) and draws on real archaeology to fuel the sci-fi aspects. He weaves these together with interesting, vivid characters to create an incredible story that is not to be missed.
Just wow. Full disclosure, yeah, it could use a bit of a proofread, but it wasn’t enough to diminish my enjoyment of the story. I really enjoyed the story. It’s one I will read again and again.
June 9, 2020
Wonder addition to the post apocalyptic genre. I have received this product for free to review. I must say this is a hidden gem you do not want to miss. I do have extended collection of post apocalyptic library and this has already shot right up my favorite list.
I sure like the creating of the world settings with different point of views in the beginning to help paint a picture of how the world is falling apart before the story starts to focus on the main characters.
Once you get hooked by the rapid fire stories at the start, you'll be wanting to see how it ends which is great as many books in the post apocalyptic seems to forget that. Making readers wanting to read it through.
One of the methods I really enjoyed with Dan is offering dual point of views to the same events and surprisingly keeping it fresh and interesting without getting too bored or making it dry. That being said, with only little issue I have with the story transitions. It could be me as I often read this book late at night and forgetting one of the important thing in life, sleeping.
I would be ready to suggest this book as a first to go to book for recommending to people who claims they have read far too many post apocalyptic books. Again, I appreciate reading this hidden gem of a book.
I sure like the creating of the world settings with different point of views in the beginning to help paint a picture of how the world is falling apart before the story starts to focus on the main characters.
Once you get hooked by the rapid fire stories at the start, you'll be wanting to see how it ends which is great as many books in the post apocalyptic seems to forget that. Making readers wanting to read it through.
One of the methods I really enjoyed with Dan is offering dual point of views to the same events and surprisingly keeping it fresh and interesting without getting too bored or making it dry. That being said, with only little issue I have with the story transitions. It could be me as I often read this book late at night and forgetting one of the important thing in life, sleeping.
I would be ready to suggest this book as a first to go to book for recommending to people who claims they have read far too many post apocalyptic books. Again, I appreciate reading this hidden gem of a book.
March 25, 2020
DNF'd at about 20%. Not bad - just not for me.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews