Dan Henk
Dan’s early career included a year and a half stint drawing political cartoons for Madcap Magazine and illustrating underground projects such as Maximum Rock and Roll.
In 1997, after struggling through a violent car crash and a knife fight with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb, he attended art school. Receiving some commercial and local gallery acclaim for his artwork, he moved to New York City in an attempt to kick start an art career.
Heavily immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands Shai Hulud, Indecision, Koshari, Unsound, Coalesce, Most Precious Blood, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, and Zombie Apocalypse, not to mention various local record labels and venues.
In 2000, he started tattooing, initially working on many musician friends. 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.
His work started appearing in both a growing number of tattoo magazines and more fine art influenced tomes. Tattoo related books such as No Regrets, Tattoo Prodigies, and Inside the Tattoo Circus took notice and included features.
Tragedy struck again in 2007, as his wife of 6 years, Monica Henk, was killed on a motorcycle by a hit and run driver. Despite extensive coverage in the local media and vigorous campaigns by both the tattoo and motorcycle community, the culprit was never found.
He moved to Austin, Texas for three years, and started doing a regular comic strip entitled “Rollo & Me” for Tattoo Artist Magazine. Illustrations for Black Static, Litro Magazine, The Horror Zine, and This is Horror followed suit.
His first novel, The Black Seas of Infinity, was published by Anarchy Books in 2011, and he started an illustrated calendar featuring a variety of artists. Deadite Press released the first book with a cover by Dan, a novel entitled “The Sopaths” by Piers Anthony.
A limited edition chapbook “Christmas Is Cancelled” came out courtesy of Splatterpunk in 2013, and in 2014 he started columns for TAM, Tattoo Revue and Skin Art magazines. A reissue of his debut novel was released by Permuted Press in April 2015, as well as a collection of his short stories entitled “Down Highways In The Dark…By Demons Driven” in August of the same year.
He continued his work for independent magazines, doing art for Red Door Magazine, a slew of books by the imprint Out Of Step, and every issue so far of the British horror zine Splatterpunk. The books “Not Dead”, “Fighting Back”, “Past Indiscretions”, “Insatiable”, “The Red Death” and “The Flood” all featured his work and his third book, “The End of the World” debuted in March of this year.
He’s currently writing short stories, the latest of which, “Watching the World Burn”, is available on Amazon.
Alyssa Renee McCormack
Alyssa is a writer based in Massachusetts who has been published in TheTravel, Highlark Magazine, BP Hope, has done ghostwriting for various magazines and websites, as well as being a copywriter in her career.
She lived in New York City for four years where she studied Fashion and Art History at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She also studied art history and archaeology for four months in Rome, Italy.
Alyssa started writing when she was living in New York City from 2014 to 2018. She covered events with photojournalism for Highlark Magazine such as New York Fashion Week, art shows, and pop-up concerts. After working with Highlark Magazine, she worked for the Hispanic Society of America writing art history programming for their outreach programs.
In 2018, Alyssa was diagnosed with Bipolar I and moved back to Massachusetts to be with her family. She worked extremely hard for years to find the right medications. She still struggles with symptoms and advocates for more bipolar research and for the end of the stigma against the disorder. She views bipolar as both a blessing and a curse.
Although it has some major downsides, bipolar disorder not only provides her with creativity and energy but gives her a unique perspective on life. Since moving back home, Alyssa has been working on two books and has been working as a professional writer. When Alyssa is not writing, she is usually making art, watching Star Trek, or relaxing with her fiancé.