Contents:
Welcome to my Substack! Here you’ll find a wide range of articles about the history of magic, theatre, the horror genre, storytelling, and more. I run regular quizzes and readings of spooky short stories. Subscribe for free or support my writing with a paid subscription.
About Me
In 2024, I graduated from Cambridge with a PhD in English looking at how magicians were depicted on the early modern stage. It won the English Faculty Completion Award for the best PhD completed in under three years. I am an award-winning writer whose recent play ‘Moderation’ followed the lives of social media moderators forced to see the worst things on the internet all day for a living. It transferred from an extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe to the Greenwich Theatre’s ‘pick of the Fringe season’ in October 2023. I also recently wrote my first libretto for a short opera about the witch trials, created with composer Dawn Erridge for the Royal Academy of Music. You can find out more about my writing and research here: rebekahkingwriter.com.
Key areas of interest:
The early modern period.
The history of theatre and special effects.
The history of belief (particularly in magic).
Ways in which ideas about censorship and dangerous knowledge have evolved.
The horror genre in film, literature and beyond.
Rhetoric and the craft of writing, including the history of how this has been taught.
About the Substack
My grandfather began a blog on etymology in his 90s and wrote his last article two days before he passed away aged 94. In his honour, I want to practice the discipline of regularly writing about my passions, in my case the history of horror, theatre, magic, special effects, and more.
My Substack is split into the following ‘sections.’ Toggling them on or off will determine which emails you get from me. I never send more than three emails a week in total.
Curiosities
Every Monday I publish an article on a miscellaneous curious theme. From the history of a stage trick, to a discussion of the world’s scariest sounds, to a deep dive into the history of censorship, anything can happen on a Monday! On the first Monday of every month, I publish my notoriously difficult ‘curious quiz’ and on the third Monday of every month, I release an instalment of ‘Tea and a Tale,’ where we make ourselves a hot beverage and read a spooky story together.
Horror Moments
Every Thursday I publish one of my Horror Moments: explorations of horror-inflected scenes and themes in unexpected places. They are released in sets or ‘editions’ of ten articles, or five in a mini-series. From Wallace & Gromit to opera, from Kate Bush songs to the plays of William Shakespeare, horror has a much broader influence on storytelling than we think. Join me on Thursdays to find out more!
Rules of Engagement
Please do: engage with my writing! It's wonderful to hear everyone's thoughts on the curious content I share, including times when my readers disagree with me or have noticed an error. As long as you are respectful and polite, it's great to have you in the conversation. I'm also happy to be approached for projects or collaborations. I will occasionally put out chat threads and calls to action when I invite a particular kind of engagement. If there's something you want me to read or promote, please send a single short message.
Please don't: harass or insult me (obviously). Anyone who engages with me in a disrespectful way will be blocked first time. I will also block outright anyone who posts an off-topic piece of self-promotion in one of my comment sections or threads and anyone who uses AI to generate a response! I will mute/block anyone who behaves in a spammy, pestering, or attention-seeking way even if your individual messages are polite. No sir, I do not have time to read your five thousand word email in one paragraph or answer a spreadsheet of questions on Shakespeare. It’s unreasonable to expect a stranger to respond at length to unsolicited messages in their spare time. I have a 'glamorous assistant' who actually looks through my public email and social media accounts and mutes/blocks people for me so most of the time I simply won't see these messages.
Paid Subscriber Benefits
Paid subscribers are incredibly important for helping me carve out the time to research and create. If you have enjoyed Curiosities and want it to keep going, paying to subscribe is the best way to guarantee its future. I am working on expanding benefits for paid subscribers, at the moment you get:
Access to my archive — after a year all my articles go behind a paywall.
Special chat threads with early access and info about upcoming projects.
Shout outs for anything you want to be shared or promoted (optional).
Thanks very much and welcome to the curious gang!
