Echoes From Below plunges into crushing depths, endless darkness, and the panic of knowing the surface may already be out of reach. The ocean closes in. Lakes hide what they have swallowed. Every breath becomes a fight, and something is always waiting in the water.
DEAD PRESSURE-
Twelve years ago, a catastrophic breach left a classified military research facility abandoned beneath the ocean. Now, a group of scavengers is breaking into its sealed corridors, chasing a score that could change their lives. For some, it means fortune. For others, what they stand to gain could mean the difference between life and death.
deep beneath the ocean, something has been waiting in the darkness. As the mission unravels, survival becomes a battle against crushing pressure, hidden secrets, and creatures that should never have been released. Some things were buried for a reason.
Explore the rest of the "Echoes From Below" collection. Independent stories. Unfathomable horrors. No way out.
Angel R. Sánchez is a Puerto Rican horror author born in Bayamón and raised in Corozal, Puerto Rico. His work blends supernatural horror, cosmic dread, folklore, and deeply human characters facing things they were never meant to understand.
He first published in Spanish with Linajes (2014), the poetry collection Katharsis, and Coleccionando Cuentos, an anthology co-written with his longtime friend Víctor L. Miranda.
After several years away from publishing, Angel returned in 2025 with his English-language debut, The Real Monster, launching The Mortal Coil, an interconnected horror universe centered on the fragile boundary between our world and what waits beyond it. The series continued with The Pale Hunger and The First Parasite, expanding the mythology of the Breach, the worlds beyond it, and the entities that inhabit them.
His other work includes the possession horror novella The Devil In I and his contributions to Broken Spine, a collaborative horror project featuring independent stories connected through themed collections. His novella Blackwood is part of Echoes of the Forgotten, while Echoes From Below: Dead Pressure takes the collection into the depths of the Atlantic with a story of isolation, survival, and something monstrous beneath the surface.
Angel writes stories about ordinary people caught in impossible situations, where survival often means confronting not only the monsters around them, but what those monsters reveal about the people themselves.
He lives in Massachusetts with his family and continues building new nightmares, one story at a time.
We're going deep under the Atlantic Ocean for this terrifying, action packed, claustrophobic creature feature. Twelve years ago, John learned something working deep under the ocean at a private government facility. A substance which seemed miraculous. When a breach occurred, he and the rest of the crew quickly abandoned the post. But he never forgot about this strange substance.
Twelve years later, John is the captain of a rag tag but skilled group of people who illegally salvage wreckage for profit. Carlos is the new hire and it's his story which we focus on. Carlos' daughter is dying and he needs money desperately for medical bills. He's ex military but likes to keep his privacy. The haul they're destined for is John's former place of employment and he promises the crew they will be multi-millionaires after this job. Their target is the now supposedly empty research facility deep under the ocean.
Once they arrive what seems like a fairly simple snatch and grab soon becomes horrifying as thy awaken something below. And it can now infiltrate the facility. They'll find other there and you'll read all about them but the situation is high octane tension and escape soon seems impossible.
This novel hits all the right notes. Part sci-fi, part creature feature, a father's love for his daughter, and government coverups. If you like your horror with lots of action and adventure, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.
I received and ARC of this boof from the author. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Better clear your schedule for this one, coz it's a genuine page-turner! I finished it in one sitting, literally unable to stop reading. Although the premise and the story are quite familiar (once you've seen Cameron's Aliens you pretty much know how it goes with all stories of this type), the writing style was totally new to me, and made for an easy and immersive read: it's highly descriptive, using short and sharp exchanges between characters, allowing for very few dives into the main character's headspace (or into anyone's headspace, to be honest), while the plot is extremely fast-paced, with no fillers or any extensive explanations of what's happening. This works very well in the case of an action movie, and, indeed, this book delivers an incredible isolation horror adventure, out of a very few basic themes: gritty realism, insatiable greed, body horror, and monsters!
An experimental compound found in a deep sea cave promises to repair dead tissue, actually it does anything but that; a former security employee organizes a heist to steal the compound anyways; it's been left in an abandoned facility under the ocean - but the team he brings with him soon realizes that they have no idea what they're really dealing with: what's been waiting for them in the facility has its own agenda, the good of humanity nowhere on the list.
The book thrives on claustrophobic atmosphere and escalating dread. On that front, it works wonders. In fact, every literary detail seems calculated, weighted and designed with only one purpose in mind: to enhance the reading experience, the book working like a piece of well-oiled machinery programmed for absolute entertainment. Even the Easter Eggs (connecting to the author's "Echoes of the Forgotten: Blackwood"), were carefully placed in the story, to involve the reader some more into appreciating the welcome complexity of the plot.
"Dead Pressure" combines remarkable survival horror with elements of an undersea thriller, to make sure there's nothing resembling a dull moment within. I completely immersed myself in it, and just for that, it already gets my highest recommendation!
This is a Public Service Announcement: There is an independent horror author lurking about named Angel R. Sanchez. If you should come into contact with any of his books, proceed with caution. This man is armed with a brilliant mind and dangerous to read. He will attack with terrifying ease, and break and enter into your nightmares. His newest book, Echoes From Below: Dead Pressure, is a claustrophobic, utterly horrifying tale of a group of "dredgers" who go to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to uncover a treasure that John. the leader of this group, has information about from his own experiences 12 years earlier. But this is not the kind of treasure you're thinking of in any way, shape, or form. And, in order to get to this "treasure", they have to battle, not only the Navy personnel guarding it, but ungodly creatures, the likes of which you've never met. Sanchez' short, quick narrative keeps the tension high on every page, and believe me, the tension abounds here. The author is part of the Broken Spine Collective, which will be releasing this novel (Sanchez' debut novel-he also wrote the amazing novella, The Devil in I and The Mortal Coil Series) and all the books in the Echoes From Below Series, on Halloween, October 31, 2026. So I urge you, if you come across this author, or any of his books, I implore you to run. RUN to your favorite online store or live event where he may be appearing, and grab all his works. And by all means, engage! He loves talking to readers, especially fellow horror and comic fans.
I had the pleasure to contribute the foreword for this book, therefore I won’t write a full review or rate it any stars, as I’m obviously not impartial.
Dead Pressure once more proves that Angel is a very intense writer. It’s basically like being in an intense video game where you keep thinking, “just one more level.” Only that in this case, it’s just one more page.
If you like claustrophobic horror and things that should have been left unturned, this book is for you. It adds 1,200 feet of salty Atlantic water to an already intense experience.
**ARC Review** Author: Angel R. Sanchez Book: Echoes From Below: Dead Pressure Book Rating: 5 Stars Genre: Horror
I already told Angel this, but…screw you, man! I haven’t had my heart ripped out like that in a while. And thanks for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t even know how to begin my review of this book. There's so much to love about it, and the horror elements really made my skin crawl. In the horror subgenre, this one checked a lot of boxes, which makes it hard to categorize. Do you have thalassophobia? Check. Do you have claustrophobia? Check? Afraid of eldritch tentacled creatures? How about being hunted? And I can’t forget the psychological aspect of it all.
A crew of treasure-hunting misfits dives 1,200 feet down into the ocean to an abandoned, quarantined military installation to salvage all the tech and hopefully make enough money for all of them to retire. As they travel deeper into the base, they find all that they could dream of, both in riches and nightmares. What they awaken is something far older than any human could possibly imagine.
Now, I’m lucky to call Angel a friend. I’ve read a few of his books now: this one, The Devil in I, and his last Broken Spine story, Blackwood, and let me tell you, this one is the best so far. Each book was amazing, but Angel is mastering his craft, and you can really see that in this work. This book made me claustrophobic; I felt like I was really in those cramped hallways with the characters.
And speaking of characters, these ones felt so lifelike and real. I could easily believe that these were real people, which made the horror hit all the harder. You grow to care about these characters—or really hate a couple—and that is what makes this book hit hard. When something happens to them, you, as the reader, feel it all.
Angel Sanchez has really honed his craft with Dead Pressure. He amps up the fear, the loneliness, and the isolation that culminates in an ending that really emotionally wrecked me. Congratulations, Angel; I will now lump you in with James Kaine when it comes to hating on you for an emotionally devastating ending.
Where to start? I was completely absorbed in this book. There was me and this book nothing else existed outside of our bubble. This book grips you from the very first page, the pacing the characters! I definitely love the pacing of the book the action started from the first page and it didn’t stop at all, even at the end. Honestly, with how Angel crafted this book, it felt more like a quick read than a hefty 414 pages.
John McGrath is a maintenance man he works under the Atlantic Ocean for a top secret vessel. No one really knows the extent of what is going on until one day he meets with a scientist that tells him something classified. There was a breach that occurred at the facility and everyone had to evacuate. That scientific discovery has always stayed with him. Twelve years later John puts together a crew to return to the vessel to retrieve what can make him and his crew very rich.
Carlos is the newest member of the crew put together by John called The Dredgers a crew that was 5 now 6 people including Carlos. All I can say Carlos has one hell of a backstory and his motivations for joining the crew are different from everyone else. The Dredgers head to the vessel and once they get there everything appears like this will be the easiest mission of their lives. In and out no harm no foul. Quickly that initial thought changes and it becomes a fight for survival.
The time at the facility can best be described as horrified and a very slow sense of dread. Tensions are running high as there are sea creatures and mutated monsters that defy human comprehension. Motivates and deep buried secrets are revealed. If you ever wanted to read a book about sea monsters and being a fast paced this is definitely the horror book for you.
Thank you Angel, for allowing me to read this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Wow. Another great story from Angel! I have read several of his and none have disappointed. He definitely does his research and can accurately articulate many subjects. His use of claustrophobic atmosphere along with clean and calculated dialogue was perfect.
This story takes us beneath the ocean, to a facility that this group thought long abandoned. They are there seeking treasure and riches (among other things) while something inside the facility is seeking them. In the beginning there is a slow creeping dread. You just know something is coming, but you have no idea how horrific it’s going to be. It’s easy to become submerged in this book while you are faced with heart pounding scenarios, creepy crawly creatures and terrifying body horror. I also loved the connection to Echoes of the Forgotten: Blackwood, which is another of my favorites.
Dead Pressure gives you the feel of a movie from the Alien franchise, but under water instead of in space. Once the action started it did not stop and that ending… *chef’s kiss* This is another hit from Mr. Sanchez and I suspect there will be many more to come.
I love the ocean. I swim in the ocean anytime I can. So I am not sure why I read books about being trapped below the ocean. The horror of being under the water with no clear escape just fascinates me. This book delivered. Not only was the crew trapped but they also were sharing the space with some unknown creatures. Let me be clear, not one creature but several that could adapt and change according to their environment. I was panic filled, heart racing but also hoping the crew could make it out. The way the author wrote this book was as though the reader was right there experiencing all the reactions from the anger, the despair and the hope each crew member faced as they dealt with the creatures and each other. Dealing with the worst of people only made the situation more harrowing. Even as the clock kept ticking down the last of the survivors held onto the hope they would escape. I was not prepared for the ending and I physically felt myself jerk as the final sentence ended. I totally recommend this amazing horror book for those who like creature features as well as survivor tropes.
The atmosphere of this book is heavy, intense, and dread filled; building pressure as the group delves deeper into the abandoned site and the secrets it holds. The incredible pull of needing to know yet not wanting to know kept me turning the pages apprehensively. The unknown is scary enough, add in creepy sounds, banging, the inability to escape easily, and the hostility of the ocean to humans. The uncomfortable feeling that time is running out is next level in this deep sea deathtrap.
Rotten Eggs. Saltwater. Hot metal.
Some abandoned sites are best left to the ocean.
Angel Sanchez managed to drag me into the depths of psychological fear and that’s was just a small part of this journey! Fast becoming one of my favorite authors, his stories definitely leave an impression that last long after the last page is turned.
**ARC** Really enjoyed this! Underwater horror is quickly becoming one of my favorite genres.
A carefully planned (years in the making) heist to get filthy rich goes off the rails quickly at a classified research facility.
Dead Pressure has deeply flawed characters that are easy to hate, but somehow likable too. It’s a good story of how desperation will drive people to do horrible things to try and improve their lives, without considering what the long-term consequences could be.
This fast-paced story is tense, creepy and often claustrophobic. It simply doesn't let go. The short sentences that follow each other quickly make this book feel almost like you're watching a movie.
This was definitely a wild ride, with lots of twists and turns. That ending was really the cherry on top.
If you like creature features, be sure to pick this one up!
I received an ARC from the author. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.
This is a my second read by Angel R. Sanchez and although I like horror, I usually am not a huge fan of sci-fi or creatures, but reading this had made me not only a fan of that but a HUGE fan of Angel's. It is strange, twisty, sad, full of raw emotion and at times very strange and that is all I need in a well written book to keep me interested.
💀 ROBIN’S REVIEW: THE AUTOPSY OF ECHOES FROM BELOW
Echoes From Below: Dead Pressure by Angel R. Sánchez
First, a huge thank you to Angel R. Sánchez for letting me beta read this one.
I have read Mr. Sánchez before, so I really should know better by now.
The man does not write stories. He builds emotional traps, waits until you care, then starts turning off the lights.
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skull Dread Rating: 💀💀💀💀
🪦 THE BODY Some books ease you into the horror.
This one looks at “ease” as a personal weakness.
Dead Pressure drops you into a place where common sense should probably be wearing a life jacket, and from there the story keeps tightening its grip until you are questioning why humans ever decided exploration was a good hobby. There are doors that should stay closed.
Places that should stay abandoned.
And discoveries that should come with a giant sign reading: ABSOLUTELY NOT. GO HOME.
Naturally, none of that happens.
🔪 FIRST INCISION
The setup grabbed me because it has that wonderful horror combination of curiosity and very obvious terrible consequences.
You know from the start that poking around where nobody has been invited is probably going to end badly. Still, everybody keeps moving forward.
Because apparently horror has never heard of leaving well enough alone.
The farther the story goes, the more that original curiosity turns into a very different question: How much worse can this possibly get? Mr. Sánchez took that as a challenge.
🩸 THE AUTOPSY
What I liked most was the constant feeling that there was always something else waiting around the corner. Not necessarily jumping out.
Not necessarily announcing itself.
Just waiting.
That kind of tension works on me every time because my imagination is perfectly capable of making things worse without assistance.
And this story gives it plenty of material.
There is also a nice balance between the human problems and everything else going terribly wrong. The danger never feels limited to one source, which means there is no comfortable point where you can think, “Well, at least THAT part is handled.”
No.
Nothing is handled.
Everyone is simply progressing from one bad idea to a more professionally organized bad idea.
🫀 STILL HAD A PULSE
The atmosphere is probably my favorite part. There is something deeply unpleasant about being somewhere you cannot simply walk away from.
That trapped feeling hangs over the entire story and makes every new problem feel bigger because there is no easy escape hatch waiting nearby.
Mr. Sánchez also knows when to let a scene sit just long enough for the dread to sink in.
Very considerate of him.
By considerate, I mean awful.
🦴 WHAT BROKE
At 421 pages, there is a lot packed into this story, but it never felt like the length was there just to take up space. There were a couple of moments where I was ready to get back to the chaos a little sooner, mostly because by that point I was far too invested and patience had officially left the building.
Basically, Mr. Sánchez had me demanding my next disaster on schedule.
☠️ CAUSE OF DEATH
Dead Pressure is a nasty little reminder that some mysteries are mysteries because nobody with functioning survival instincts should investigate them.
It is tense, claustrophobic, unsettling, and full of the kind of choices that make horror readers yell at people who cannot hear us.
Mr. Sánchez clearly has no interest in creating safe spaces for his characters.
Or his readers.
Apparently, peace, emotional stability, and a reasonable blood pressure are not included with his books.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 STARS… BUT SOMEBODY PLEASE GIVE ME FIVE MORE
Some things are best left at the bottom of the ocean.
Do you ever read a book and realize you’re not really reading it anymore—you’re watching the whole damn thing play out in your head like a movie?
Dead Pressure was THAT book for me.
This is one of those rare times when five stars genuinely feels insulting. Give me ten. Give me a whole new rating system. Because OH. MY. GOD.
The atmosphere in this story is absolutely unreal. Dread and suspense are woven into everything from the very beginning, and the deeper the story takes you, the more claustrophobic it feels. You can practically feel the weight of all that water sitting above you while knowing the surface is way, way too far away.
And the imagery?! Rotten eggs. Salt water. Hot metal.
You can almost smell this book.
That sensory detail made everything feel disturbingly real. I could see the corridors. Hear the metal. Feel that oppressive darkness closing in. There were moments when my brain completely forgot I was sitting safely with a book because mentally, I was down there with them—and I very much DID NOT WANT TO BE. Lol.
The whole concept of scavengers entering an abandoned classified military research facility at the bottom of the ocean already had me. Then you start realizing that maybe the facility wasn't simply abandoned. Maybe some doors were sealed for a damn good reason.
And THAT is where the fun begins.
There is something uniquely terrifying about deep-sea horror because you can't just run outside. There is no forest to escape through. No road to reach. No neighbor to hear you scream. You're trapped beneath an unimaginable amount of water with limited oxygen, crushing pressure, darkness, and whatever the hell might be down there with you.
Dead Pressure takes that fear and squeezes every last drop out of it.
The tension builds. The dread crawls under your skin. The visuals are freaking cinematic. And once things start going wrong, I was completely locked in.
This wasn't a “I'll read another chapter before bed” book.
This was a “apparently we're finishing this now” book. And I did at 2am.
If Echoes From Below is bringing this kind of underwater nightmare energy, I may need oxygen before I continue this collection.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Five stars because that's all they'll let me give.
Review of advanced reader copy received from author.
Really enjoyed this story. Ticks all the boxes for what I like to read - government conspiracy/research gone wrong, ragtag band of characters, creatures on the loose, mayhem ensues. I felt into this story quick and couldn't take a break, so read it quicker than normal. For the most part the book was really good.
A few points of note though - there's some repetition in dialogue, mainly characters saying "that's not what I asked" or some variant of that in response to another characters vague answer. Not particularly annoying, but i did notice it. There's a part where a woman turns up, in seemingly supernatural fashion, but it's never explained why or how, just one character relaying that info to the others, then some suggestion that she was a witch, then the story moved on and it was never touched upon again. I will caveat this last point by saying that the author states at the start of the book that formatting may change before the final release copy, but I had a few issues with the current format- there were no indents at the start of each sentence, paragraph spacing was a bit much, you couldn't always tell who was talking due to previously stated lack of indents and most apostrophed speech just line after line with no breakup, especially if multiple characters are in the scene.
Maybe the above is seen as being picky but I read A LOT, and the first thing you notice is how a book is formatted. If it's done right, it makes it such a good start for the reader when they pick up a book. There's certain formatting acts that should be followed, in my opinion anyway.
Overall though, i would still recommend this book.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I jumped into this one, but it pulled me in quickly! The story begins with a crew heading out to sea on an unknown mission, knowing only that the payoff could be huge. Turns out, they were right—but that payoff comes with a terrifying price. This story gave me a definite Aliens meets Pitch Black vibe. It was dark, eerie, and incredibly foreboding. Every page carried this constant sense of dread because you never knew what was lurking just ahead or what the crew would encounter next. The atmosphere was fantastic, and the tension kept building as the story unfolded. But what really got me was the emotional side of the story. One of the characters is desperately trying to help save his daughter, who is suffering from a life-threatening illness. That part hit me especially hard. As a parent who has watched a child suffer and ultimately lose their battle with a deadly disease, that storyline struck very close to home. No child should ever have to endure that kind of suffering, and you could really feel the desperation behind his actions. Overall, this was a dark, intense, and suspenseful read with plenty of violence, dread, and horrifying moments. The story kept me guessing, tugged hard at my heartstrings, and delivered a great ending. Definitely a creepy, brutal ride from beginning to end!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Yet another emotional roller coaster from Angel! His writing doesn't just take you on a roller coaster of emotions though, you're living it with these characters. It's as if you're right there going through it with them. The vivid imagery and character development are unmatched. There were many occasions throughout the story where I found myself holding my breath, wondering what the heck was going to happen next and then thinking WTF when I got to see. I stayed up all night just to finish reading it because I couldn't bring myself to go to bed.
The main characters are a group of dredgers going to an underwater military site to hopefully get a huge payday under the information they got from John, their leader. But from the moment they head underwater, things start going wrong or just don't seem right. It quickly became clear that John hadn't given them the whole story and put them into one hot mess by not being honest. With each turn of the page, they all were forced to fight for their lives and it will be quite the surprise for you at the end to see who survived the pressure they were under both literally and figuratively speaking.
Sometimes the scariest stories can be those that take place underwater. Angel's newest book is a subterranean horror where a group of explorers explore an abandoned military facility that is buried underwater. Or at least it's supposed to be abandoned. This is a story where sometimes abandoned places are meant to be left alone. They are looking for treasure or artifacts in exchange for a big payday. However, there is something that is looking for them.
This isn't your fast horror that gets to the meat and bones quickly. Oh no, this is the 'painful' horror where you know there's something roaming around, but you can't quite pinpoint what it is. This is a slow burn horror, but I promise the payoff is worth it. This is not like other books as the characters are underwater, so there aren't lots of hiding spaces. If you're claustrophobic, you might want to mentally prepare yourself.
I suspect this will be another series just like the Echoes of the Forgotten universe. If so, I'm all in!
Anything Angel writes is a must read for me and I was thrilled to be a beta reader. I love Angel’s mix of horror, supernatural and some gore in his work. Dead Pressure had me hooked from the prologue. The beginning story and mystery made me want to not put it down. Knowing it happened in the same time frame as the last book, Echos of the Forgotten, Blackwood was something I was looking forward to reading and how the story meshed and all came together. The characters are detailed and descriptive. There’s some intriguing parts that happen and really interesting creatures. The story definitely didn’t turn out like I expected and I was surprised by the twists. John was my favorite character and I was excited to see how his story unfolded. Even if you haven’t read Echos of the Forgotten, this is a fantastic, fast moving story.
This is the third book I have read from Angel and I swear his writing gets better with each book. The story line was so amazing it had me on the edge of my seat at times and definitely yelling what the hell are you doing don’t do that or don’t go in there. The creatures were so detailed I could picture them in my head and that made it even scarier to me! And I can’t wait for everyone to add this to their tbr shelves you will not be disappointed with this read and you will not want to put it down once you start reading this story!
I wish I could write a review half as good as this author writes stories. Easy to give Echoes from Below Dead Pressue five stars . Read cover to cover in one sitting. It's scary. I'm warning you, it really is scary. The sink, the purpose, the journey, the horror. The ending . No spoilers review . Read The Book! This author , Angel Sanchez, quickly became a favorite of mine, and his stories just keep getting better. Remember to breathe while reading. Yea, you know that one line authors always use ... be sure you're releasing that breath. This is intense!
After finishing the book, I had to step away from it. Regain my balance. I never expected all this. From the beginning there is already feelings of dread and tension. I could have screamed DON'T DO IT! Things are better not to be discovered, but everybody had their own motive. Reading the last chapters made me rock back and forward out of tension and horror. Until the very last page it was horror of a kind I really don't want to know.
This was the first book I read from this author, there will be more to follow now. He has a new fan.
Angel has done it once again! this time he takes us to the depths of the ocean where a group explores an abandoned facility. But is something watching and waiting for them? The characters are flawed and fun to follow. The suspense is out of this world, and the plot keeps you turning the pages until the end. As always, Angel has taken the story to the next level, and I can't wait to read his next one.