Dr Rachel Knightley

My two communities growing up were my local theatre and synagogue, developing my fascination in the power of the stories we tell ourselves to shape our identity. You’ll find that theme in my short story cycle, Twisted Branches (Black Shuck Books, 2023), a familial love triangle exploring how we all – friends, families, knowingly, unknowingly – mess up and light up each other’s lives.

My earlier collection, Beyond Glass (Black Shuck Books, 2021), also explores how our perception of ourselves and others shapes our reality. It includes The Other Woman Parts 1 and 2, longlisted by Ellen Datlow for Best Horror of the Year, and Wolf in the Mirror which was originally published in Writing Magazine, winning first prize for fiction.

I'm also the author of the 2020 GCSE Drama Revision and Study Guide (Hachette Learning), various creative writing resource packs on the Times Educational Supplement website, and InkCouragement, my regular creative confidence newsletter.

and write and present for magazines, Blu-ray extras and online series including Severin Films, Second Sight Films, Imprint Films, Starburst Magazine and YouTube, Writing Magazine, Jewish Renaissance and Indicator Films.

I've contributed stories to anthologies such as British Fantasy Award-nominated Dreamland, Midsummer Eve: Great British Horror 5 (Black Shuck Books) and Uncertainties Vol. 3 (Swan River Press).

In addition to my published fiction and non-fiction, other features, articles and audio/visual essays include work for Starburst Magazine and YouTube, Severin Films, Indicator Films, Second Sight Films, Writing Magazine, Fangoria, Jewish Renaissance and Psychologies Magazine.