Khadrite: A Local Horror Artist’s Midnight Grasp on Rogers Park

A cassette slides into a boom box and its wheels whir to life. Static spits out of its speakers before synthesizers ooze into the sample like an old horror film’s score. The tape infects the boom box with a dread of the Black Hand’s design — a radio static nightmare of a sky without stars.

Khadrite is a multimedia cinematic horror project by artist The Black Hand (T.B.H). Creator T.B.H, Tom Henry’s alter ego, held an art festival at Armadillo’s Pillow. After 12 years in Rogers Park, the self-proclaimed “hermit” joined five artists in hosting “Artmadillo” Oct. 25 at the used bookstore.

The Khadrite project could be considered a living organism, with layers of rhythmic and artistic processes. Most organisms evolve and become more complex. Khadrite is the same — it evolves and spreads like mycelium spores.

Henry perfected his style in high school, where he said he used to draw doodles of Eddie The Head, Iron Maiden’s mascot originally designed by Derek Riggs.

His work strikes an interesting equilibrium between structure and experimentation, as he said  he’s always taken inspiration from his “interest in the macabre, dark arts, horror movies and cinema in general.”

His work has continually evolved since then, expanding his spectral reach from Bandcamp to Youtube and selling physical prints and cassettes at Armadillo’s Pillow.

Henry’s analog ethos extends to the celebration at Armadillo’s Pillow. 

“There’s no AI art at this festival,” Henry said. “It’s all genuine, made by humans.”

Ultimately, T.B.H’s art lives a half-life — entirely human, individual and single-celled, yet still haunted and infectious.

Henry’s father, despite being ironically born on Halloween, “isn’t really into creepy stuff,” the artist said. Instead, he said his mother played an important role in creating his cinematic and multimedia interest with old horror icons, such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman.

With these influences, Henry described himself as “a one man deal doing his own thing.” He places his work in the punk DIY scene, distinguishing himself from metal and hard rock.

 “I like aggressive music, but it wasn’t enough for me as a creative outlet,” Henry said.

Henry began creating Khadrite while locked in his home during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He kicked off the Khadrite project in February 2021, with his “Demo 2021” which contains some of his first experiments with music.

“I had a bunch of guitar pedals and little synths, and I started putting them together to make these very strange, very creepy noises,” Henry said. “It sounded good enough to record, so I basically began to chop it up and arrange it like sheet music.”

Sheet music is an apt metaphor for the way he combines the recorded sounds. He records and mixes various noises to create one succinct, almost narrative, arc. Still, T.B.H’s music refuses to be boxed in. Instead, it goes beyond its elegant framework in the intersection of a few interesting contradictions.

One of his more recent albums, August 2023’s “Transmissions From Deep Cosmic Darkness,” sits at a crossroads between more experimental and more structured sound. Though it forges its own path through dark earth and thick underbrush, it still has a tight plot structure. Henry’s background in screenwriting contributes to this cinematic style. 

“I’d love to actually write a movie someday,” Henry said. But you know, movie making is extremely expensive. If someone wanted to make a movie, my stuff could be a soundtrack. I think film is a great medium. If you want film music, talk to me.” 

The Khadrite project, though, is two-sided. It combines visual media with music. The other side — his cinematic horror prints — is inspired by the picture book series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which features iconic and hair-raising illustrations by Stephen Gamill. 

Henry said he was also inspired by the whimsy of Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymous Bosch and the “crazy stuff”Ralph Stedman collaborated with Hunter S. Thompson to make.

Similar shadowy figures terrorize his graphite and ink prints in tandem with images of death, occult rituals and eerie curses. The names for his compilations, albums, prints, as well as his own name may all be random, according to Henry — but they still serve a purpose.

It’s all in the atmosphere the horror movie aficionado seeks to create. T.B.H lives in horror — the realm of deep dread and subversion. The random, coincidental and supernatural are what make the horror in his art grounded. Some album images and prints are photo-edited to a stunning collage effect that make his art feel both surreal and lived in.

Musically, from his first album “Demo 2021” to “Transmissions From Deep Cosmic Darkness,” his sound becomes more thoughtfully structured. Like his physical art, Henry explained his music takes a “bits and pieces” collage structure, with inspiration from classical music.

Henry has started to broaden his reach as an artist as well. He often goes to Armadillo’s Pillow to talk to fans, strangers and customers. The cobwebs from the local artist’s showcase can still be seen hanging on the dusty tomes. 

The cassette begins to melt, as sludge like hot tar drips from the speakers. There in the midst of an oil slick puddle is T.B.H himself, his spectral presence breaking free of its confines.

Khadrite, his infectious and ever-evolving project, is a coherent nightmare. Its structure and experimentation draw on old methods to create something cinematic. Khadrite isn’t just a project though—it’s the filmmaking process by which T.B.H creates his multimedia monster. 

Khadrite is alive. Khadrite is hungry. And no one can match its particular blend of horror artistry.