Margins | No. 6

The Drek Death and Doom Newsletter || To Keep Silent by Thomas Sachs: a review/spotlight

Dylan Bosworth and TS

Feb 03, 2026

I. Editor’s Note
II.Spotlight: Thomas Sachs
III. Open Calls
IV. Books

I

Editor’s Note:

It’s been a minute since I’ve had the opportunity to sit and write about the press and its happenings and happenots. First, there are several projects in the talking/pitching phase. Nothing is carved into bone or anything—mostly soft queries. Some of them, names you know, others, probably new to nearly all of you. All of them are going to be upping the game if we go through with them.

Speaking of that, I have a few novels in my inbox, and (I think) a novella or two. Most of you guys have heard the spiel about being back to physical work full-time and it absolutely kicking my ass? If you’re reading this and waiting for a response, apologies—I have tomorrow (Feb 2) off and I plan on getting through all submissions. Grateful for every last drop of patience. As a fellow-submitting writer—I know what it’s like.

If you want to know what’s up with me, here’s this note:

tldr: I’m editing a bunch of stuff and writing a bunch of stuff, and I explain what they are starting halfway down that note after bringing the tone back down.

Tone? I might explain more in a different section below. It’s relevant.

I submitted a story to Nightmare Magazine during one of their rare open call periods. I almost forgot about it, and I had been waiting for it for weeks. Got it in, though. If I get an acceptance there, boyyyyy… That’s my dream right now. I know, it’s not a massive dream; but even with a bunch of other publications, an acceptance there? All the whispers of that grinding imposter syndrome blow apart into dust. It’s a long shot.

If you remember, I removed my fiction to transition to a more press-forward newsletter (notes, obviously still just me, baby); but, I will still be posting previously published stories that have appeared elsewhere.

Last time I talked a bit about some press misalignment as well as an emerging issue with proximity/boundaries. Honestly? That seems to have corrected itself a bit. I lost a bunch of subscribers, but I gained a lot more. Despite the posts being low, the engagement with notes (those of you on substack) has been high. SO I appreciate all of you who are here for what I and WE are all about.

What are we all about? Instead of impressing upon you a vibe, let me show you. Keep reading to hear about a writer here who lurks and likes, and as of now, has but 12 followers to his name.

Sincerely.

DB

II
Spotlight: Thomas Sachs and To Keep Silent

And a short review of his debut novella.

Published by Sphinx, an imprint of Sul. Drek Death and Doom is not affiliated with Sul or Sphinx, or Thomas Sachs. This isn’t a business endorsement and I make no money from reviewing. This is to lift up the fiction community because we need to shout out work we like.

Thomas popped into my DMs one day, asking what metal I listened to after my note on the genre spread around. He did what true metalheads do, and tested me—making sure I meant metal, and not what normal people consider metal, like five finger death punch, Trivium (he actually gave those examples, so I knew he was in it), etc.

We got to talking about a favorite of mine, a band whose lyrics inspired the name of this press. The vocalist for The Black Dahlia Murder, Trevor Strnad, was the best writer I’ve ever read, hands down, and he wrote lyrics instead of prose. But goddamn… they read like stories; and they were rich and beautiful and grotesque and florid, a true lexicophile, and man, he had the vocabulary of God.

Thomas admitted, “I hate to do this…”

But while we were on the subject of Strnad, and oh, how he wrote—Thomas mentioned a chapter in his book was his attempt at Strnadian prose. In fact, he said, the book is kind of inspired by them….

I opened the package a few days later.

Review: To Keep Silent by Thomas Sachs

Buy from SUL

B&N

Reach out to TS .

Blending bits of occult/ritual horror hallmarks present in classics like Adam Neville’s Last Days, to modern extreme horror, like Kristopher Triana and Ryan Harding’s The Night Stockers—and the wide style canyon between them—To Keep Silent packs much of what makes these work across the subgenre spectrum and shrugs free most of what doesn’t. In doing so, the gap between perceived tiers of horror shrinks. Thomas and his debut showcase cinematic sprawl as well as close, action-based momentum without fully committing to either narrative aim. The book moves between fractured and evocative atmosphere-ramping sensory experiences, and a closer, more psychologically restrained MC POV. This non-linear, multi-pov construction oscillates between immersion and distance, creating this push and pull that becomes ritual, itself—setting the pace and heights of tension while maintaining draw for readers across the spectrum.

The story follows Nick on his quest to find Floriana—the love of his life (a quick love, but one of those you don’t recover from) who disappeared. On paper, it’s familiar in occult horror, but the way it’s delivered makes this story unique. Nick has this book, and he has names. There’s something blacked out in the book, and it’s blacked out for a good reason—it’s up to you to read and find that reason on your own. He tracks down the names in a way that hints at tips to noir, minus the MC being inherently flawed and fated, and much a part of the same system of grime which presses him. This MC is a private private investigator, and the world into which he dips is oil-black and malignant, but for much of the story, he remains aloof and slow to come out of innocence. The structure forms in steps as Nick meets the people on his list—each, becoming a point of change. Nick’s pov is non-linear itself, and we likewise dip inside the heads of these encountered characters who serve as tools for a litany of storytelling uses as their sections are here and then at different points in time, allowing us to peer beyond what Nick can see.

Where most ritual horror centers around a ritual or some act as the main focus, Thomas uses perspective here that slowly reveals it. With each new revelation, we’re closer to whatever happened—we see a bit more, understand a bit more—but it’s out of reach. Structuring this back and forth between these expository but entirely gripping sections into Nick’s sort of young naivety, you get the sense that this evil being hinted at is real, and by continuing reading, you somehow have aided in bringing it into the world unknowingly, and it’s forming there in the pages as you read.

Working in this way, I never felt exhausted by the cinematics utilized in the array of side-character experiences. The descriptions are immersive, sensory, and sprawling where POVs of the occultists wander darkly—and floral, with grave attention to romantic language in the tone of Strnadian lyricism as mentioned above. To a fault? Possibly for some. Some adjectives could fall away, but they weren’t damaging to my enjoyment. I like prose that gets dangerous and takes risks in the quest for artistry. This, in my reading, is actually where the book shines. When Thomas (or his editor) allows himself to close his eyes and melt on the page, when he feels a beat and decides to wax, that’s the gloss that gleams like a knife in silver moonlight. Nick’s narrative constraint there demands a simpler market-facing voice appealing to modern mainstream readers. Key in on demands. Nick’s POV can’t dance in the dark like the rest of them without losing readers who don’t have some of the wider attention spans the more evocative and sprawling sections require. I find that break nice, reminiscent of humor breaks to pause tension; here, instead, we get a slight lull on a track of loops and twists rather than pulled off the ride. This, for some, will be where they find the writing more to their style, but in my opinion, if Thomas lags anywhere, I can feel that he wants to unravel a bit more in his closer POV with Nick. The effort he uses to restrain himself in these sections is a touch too restrictive and shows where Thomas can become uncomfortable with the currently popular filtered interiority, and it merges on forced, ever so slightly.

Each new character introduces new stakes and tosses gas on an already raging fire burning toward what the novel seems to encage precariously throughout. This noirish investigation and interview system is the pacing, tension, and atmosphere builder. Each lead, a step. Each step, with consequences of their own. The structure paces itself, transitioning where it has to, revealing enough only when it must. You climb a ladder, but to what?

In the first few chapters, I thought this was going to be an exploration of loss. That sucking feeling of not knowing what happened. It touched on themes much stronger, though—themes like wealth disparity and access, misogyny, agency. But what I found it reached for more subtly, was experience. The ache for something bigger, something more you can never reach. What happens when you do reach it? If you can? Pieces in this book give different answers. Harkening to The Hellbound Heart for some, dipping into despair and grappling with absence at other times—but always touching on that drive and also fear of experience beyond ourselves. In the same push and pull you have with narrative styling, you have the same subtextual back and forth. This hunger to enter experience beyond yourself, and also, the consequence of reaching such heights.

It holds its place alongside a tough number of applauded novellas in the small-press horror market over the last couple of years. From page one, I didn’t lose the desire to stop flipping through it. Events were consequential, so I was forced to find out what happened. Where most horror in the genre is action-driven and linear, minus purpose—this happened, and also this. Then this also happened—To Keep Silent drives itself with the impacts necessitated by structural events. In its slow revelatory nature, the tension lays over you like a fog, then settles like acrid smoke and shoves itself down your throat for the climax.

Thomas might take this as a negative, but he shouldn’t: What I think sticks out to me beyond what he’s accomplished is his potential. I enjoyed the writing in TKS, but after he let me read a submission he’d missed, I spotted improvement. Within the short span from his debut’s publication to a story written at the end of 2025, that balance he aims to strike shines even brighter than here. This was a fantastic debut, and I’m excited to see where Thomas goes.

Head over to his page if you tend to like the people I shout out. Thomas is a solid horror writer, and I am really hoping he starts putting more work here on substack hint hint

III
Open Calls

1.

Drek Death and Doom and Nascent Night Press are both open for long fiction submissions. Novellas, Novels.

For long fiction submissions, send query letter and first chapter. I will ask for the full thing if I want a closer look.

Submit at submissions@drekdeathanddoom.com.

2.

Drek Death and Doom is seeking original horror fiction that aims to inflict terror while demonstrating dangerous command of craft. We want stories written with intention and artistry.