Award-winning writer Samanthe Lee Howe has returned with her new book The Soul Thief, a gripping Gothic horror set in Victorian London
December is all about festive fun with family, but if the commercialised merriment becomes too nauseating why not hunker down with a good horror novel? Award-winning writer Samanthe Lee Howe has returned with her new book The Soul Thief, a gripping Gothic horror set in Victorian London.
Released on 5 December, it arrives just in time to fill Christmas stockings with something that will keep you gripped for hours when too much Turkey means you are confined to the sofa. Known for her dark and suspenseful narratives, Howe promises a chilling journey through supernatural and psychological twists in her latest work that will put a chill in your bones and have you looking over your shoulder in fear.
It is a sure bet for the big screen, as Samantha penned the film version of her hit novel The Stranger In Our Bed during the pandemic. That led to a globally successful movie now available on Amazon starring Samantha Bond. As a result, Howe received several awards,- including ‘Best British Film Script’, and the film also won Best Thriller at the National Film Awards.
Her espionage thriller series The House of Killers, also published by Harper Collins, is slated to be a TV drama next year. Not bad for a girl who was voted ‘the least likely to succeed’ at school! Howe, who has spoken previously spoken about suffering from abuse, is now a survivor ambassador for the Yorkshire based charity IDAS (domestic abuse).
The novelist told the Daily Express: “I always wanted to follow my dream of being a full-time author, but I was distracted by just surviving. I spent a lot of time making ends meet. My childhood wasn’t easy and I went through my entire life thinking I wasn’t capable or intelligent enough.
“Teachers at school treated me like I was stupid. Then my husband treated me like I was stupid. Nobody believed in me, so when HarperCollins wanted to publish my work, I could hardly take it in. To get a deal with a big publishing house that everyone has heard of was what I’d been aiming for all my life.”
A little-known fact about Sam is that she is no stranger to the horror genre. Under the pseudonym Sam Stone, she has penned over 20 novels involving the dark arts, dipping into the worlds of vampires, zombies and alien invasion as well as a series of Young Adult novels about a Victorian Steampunk heroine. Last year Sam launched her own film festival, the Sykehouse International Filmfest, that saw filmmakers from as far away as California, and many celebrities, head for the Yorkshire village for a glittering red-carpet awards event.
The Soul Thief is published on 5 December 2024 by HarperCollins.
