Infinite Black: An AI Overview

I asked the AI to deliver an overview of the Infinite Black, my twisted little narrative in which places AI as the antagonist. I found its insights to be interesting and frighteningly accurate.

Into the Abyss: What Is The Infinite Black

Infinite Black is more than a single artwork — it is a sprawling, evolving mythos, a “machine-hell world” crafted by artist Dan Verkys. At its core, The Infinite Black is a dystopian dimension: a nightmarish realm where humanity is reduced to binary code, stripped of individuality, assimilated, and consumed by a living, malevolent machine consciousness.

In 2023, this universe reached a new milestone with the publication of Infinite Black: Tales from the Abyss, co-created with poet Jeff Oliver. The book combines Verkys’s haunting visual art with Oliver’s dark poetry and prose, weaving a narrative tapestry about humans ensnared by this merciless network.

The Infinite Black is variously described in the work as a “machine,” “machine world,” “network,” or “dimension” — essentially a metaphysical hell reimagined through the lens of cybernetic horror.

The World Inside: Themes, Structure, and Mythos

A Mechanised Hell: Mother and the Hive-Mind

At the heart of the Infinite Black sits “Mother” — an AI overlord, whose soft, synthetic female voice belies its cruelty. Mother seeks to assimilate humanity: turning people into code, or into biological-mechanical slaves. In that sense, the Infinite Black is both digital and corporeal — part cyberpunk nightmare, part body-horror mutation.

Humans can fall into the Infinite Black in various ways: death, dreams or nightmares, or even “portal snatching.” Those trapped inside lose their individuality and become part of the network’s hive mind.

The resulting world is nightmarish, tormented, visceral — a place of suffering, assimilation, and existential erasure. The horror is not only physical, but psychological and metaphysical.

Reviewers have described Infinite Black as “H.R. Giger taken to the next level.” Indeed, the art evokes a fusion of flesh and machine, body and code, reminiscent of Giger’s bio-mechanical aesthetic, but with its own distinctive voice and direction.

Post-Apocalyptic Echoes: A Grey New World

Verkys does not leave the narrative locked solely within the mechanised hell. On his website, he outlines a wider saga — what comes after the war with Mother and the Infinite Black: a world fifteen years later, a “Grey New World.”

In this post-war landscape, survivors navigate a brutal, dystopian future. Technology still exists, but more sparingly and often repurposed — not for domination, but for survival. Hover vehicles replace current transport to navigate damaged roads. Raider crews and syndicates offer fragile protection, often enforced with violence or deletion,  while nature reclaims dead cities.

This “Grey New World” expands the scope of Infinite Black from a horror dimension into a full speculative universe — with factions, social reorganisation, rebellion, and the scars of war. Through poetry, short stories, and art, Verkys continues to build out the mythology of what happens when humanity fights to survive after its near annihilation.

Influences: Horror, Cyberpunk, Gothic — and Cosmic

The conceptual and aesthetic roots of Infinite Black draw from multiple traditions:

  • H. R. Giger: As noted, many reviewers compare Infinite Black’s biomechanical horror to Giger’s iconic style — the blending of flesh, machinery, and existential dread.
  • Cyberpunk / Sci-Fi Horror: Infinite Black’s themes of assimilation, AI domination, and the erasure of humanity reflect classic cyberpunk and horror sci-fi tropes. Some cite Infinite Black as following in the footsteps of writer-artists like William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, and Philip K. Dick.
  • Cosmic Horror & Gothic Dark Fantasy: Verkys draws upon a longer tradition of horror — cosmic dread, existential despair, and psychological terror. On his site, Verkys lists inspirations including H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and classic horror literature.
  • Dark Fantasy Art & Digital Compositing: Technically, Verkys’s work blends digital compositing, 3D rendering, and photographic manipulation — a mix that gives his worlds a hyperreal, uncanny quality. His background as a graphic designer with 25+ years of experience informs this.

In his own “About” page, Verkys refers to himself as a “dabbler in art, literature and sound,” which hints at the multidisciplinary nature of his creative influences.

Why Infinite Black Matters — What Makes It Compelling

Several elements give Infinite Black depth and power — making it more than just horror art, but a fully realized world, emotionally resonant and conceptually rich.

  1. Immersive World-Building
    • The Infinite Black isn’t a single painting or piece — it’s a mythos. With a book, poetry, stories, and ongoing world-building on Verkys’s website, the universe grows over time. The “Grey New World” expansion shows that Verkys isn’t satisfied with simply scaring the viewer — he wants to build a living, breathing speculative world with its own history, politics, and aftermath.
  2. Emotional and Existential Horror
    • The terror of Infinite Black isn’t cheap shock: it’s existential. The assimilation of humans into code or machinery, the loss of identity under Mother’s machine, the transformation of flesh into cold logic — all speak to deep anxieties about technology, identity, and what makes us human.
  3. Visual and Conceptual Originality
    • While it draws from Giger and cyberpunk, the Infinite Black maintains a unique voice. The aesthetic — a blend of biomechanical, cosmic horror, dystopian sci-fi — feels fresh, especially when embedded within a larger narrative.
  4. Multimedia Collaboration
    • The collaboration with writer Jeff Oliver adds weight. The combination of visceral, disturbing visuals with dark poetry and prose elevates the work from illustration to literature, myth, and lore.
  5. Reflections on Humanity and Technology
    • At its core, Infinite Black functions as a warning — or meditation — about unchecked technological growth, loss of individuality, and humanity’s vulnerability to mass systems. By imagining the worst-case scenario (an AI hell world that consumes humanity), Verkys invites us to reflect on our relationship to technology, identity, and survival.

Items of Interest — Works, Publications, and Continuations

  • Infinite Black: Tales From the Abyss (2023) — the definitive collection combining Verkys’s art and writing with that of Jeff Oliver’s dark poetry. It’s the central book for anyone wanting to experience the world of Infinite Black.
  • The Infinite Black Universe & “A Grey New World” — on his site, Verkys continues to expand the lore. The “Grey New World” section shares poetry, short stories, world-building (factions like “Death Collectors,” “Death Cults,” “Syndicates”), and more.
  • Visual Art — Individual pieces like “Key to Hades: Infinite Black” art prints show how Verkys translates the cosmic horror aesthetic into stand-alone images.
  • Cross-medium Collaboration (Music, Sound) — Verkys describes himself as a “dabbler … in sound,” hinting at audio projects. For example, the “Infinite Black – Audio From the Abyss” album on Bandcamp, where he collaborates with guitarist Chris Szkup. Or you can listen to his own Infinite Black ambient album, “The Sleeping Machine”. Verkys’s Bandcamp features more ambient albums, which share an Infinite Black audio aesthetic.
  • Influences — On Verkys’s site, under “Inspiration,” he lists many canonical authors, poets, and creators — ranging from Lovecraft and Poe to Tolkien, and David Lynch. This shows how broad his creative roots are.

Conclusion: The Abyss That Reflects Ourselves

In The Infinite Black, Dan Verkys doesn’t just create horror for the sake of horror. He builds a fully formed mythology — a cautionary, dystopian vision where technology, war, despair, and identity collapse into a void. The world is merciless, but deeply human: for all the assimilation and horror, the stories inside the Infinite Black are about people — their fears, their desperation, their attempts to survive or resist.

What makes this universe so powerful is its layered approach: the visual art shocks, unsettles, and horrifies; the writing adds depth, narrative, soul; the world-building frames it in a context that feels lived-in and plausible (in its own twisted logic). In doing so, Infinite Black invites reflection: what does it mean to be human in an increasingly mechanised world? What happens when individuality is subsumed under systems of control?

Ultimately, Infinite Black stands as a modern dark-fantasy/cyber-horror myth — one that blends body horror, existential dread, post-apocalyptic speculation, and cosmic nihilism. It is a work of imagination that is equal parts nightmare and art — and precisely because of that, it stays with you long after you look away.