The Black Book: Year of the Rat (Red Dragon Edition)
About this ebook
Official description and core premise
It is described as “a compilation of anthologies centered around several families from various walks of life, as their perception of reality becomes challenged to the brink of insanity.” Stories focus on ordinary people and families whose grasp on reality fractures under extreme psychological and supernatural pressure.
Series context and folklore roots
The book belongs to Ellis’s "The Black Book" series, an ambitious indie horror anthology collection rooted in darker aspects of Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) Chinese folklore. It reinterprets elements such as:
- Zhiguai (“strange tales”)
- Shamanism and spirit possession
- Taboos and curses (including the historical Gu/Wugu witchcraft scandals)
- Corrupted versions of the Chinese Zodiac (the 12 Earthly Branches)
Rather than using traditional lunar-calendar warding rituals (firecrackers, dragon dances, etc.) to repel evil, the stories show evil already embedded in everyday modern life. Breaking ancient taboos incurs a supernatural “debt” that warps reality. The series frames the Zodiac as a countdown mechanism for terror and gives the book itself a meta quality—it is presented as a living, potentially dangerous document that can implicate or “choose” the reader.
The overall series is structured around the Zodiac cycle:
- "Moonlight" (Book 1) covers the first six signs (Rat through Snake) with a focus on hidden, internal, nocturnal dread, secrets, shadows, and night-haunting spirits.
- "Sunrise" (Book 2) covers the remaining signs (Horse through Pig) and shifts toward exposure, judgment, and consequences revealed in harsh light.
- "Year of the Rat" functions as a Chronicles-style volume that revisits/expands the Rat (the cunning, survival-at-any-cost first sign of the cycle), potentially looping earlier “debts” and centering family-based stories of crumbling sanity.
Tone, style, and approach
Expect fast-paced, cinematic, gritty psychological horror with thriller tension, reality-bending twists, and folklore depth rather than pure gore. Ordinary characters rely on wits and survival instincts against extreme threats. Stories are punchy and often standalone (or loosely linked), emphasizing isolation, betrayal, family secrets, existential dread, and the horror of a fracturing world. The author deliberately keeps specific chapter plots under wraps in promotional material to preserve the dread and surprise.
In short, "Year of the Rat" delivers family-centered horror anthologies in which modern lives collide with the dark underbelly of Han-era folklore and Zodiac shadow sides, pushing characters (and, in the series’ meta framing, potentially the reader) toward the edge of sanity. It sits in the same universe as the other "Black Book" volumes and related Ellis projects.
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About the author
Gray Ellis lives in Manhattan, New York. He's a published author, actor, podcaster and musician who spends most of his time working various angles of the creative process. Gray is extremely passionate about creating cultivating stories that push the envelope and raise the bar for future creators and innovators. He is currently working on his third installment of “RUN” as well as several other projects in music, film and television. Gray Ellis, originally born in Alexandria, Virginia. Spent the majority of the developing stages of his entertainment career in Los Angeles, California before setting his sights on his current residency in New York, as he enjoys spending his winters with snow filled streets. Stay tuned for more of Gray Ellis's project announcements as they become readily available for release.
