Rachel Stewart is an MA/PhD student studying popular culture and nineteenth-century British literature. Her research interests are rooted in popular Victorian fiction/culture, particularly that of the horror genre, in various formats such as the novel (sensation or not), penny dreadful or short story. She is especially interested in monstrosity and the figures that embody it, such as the vampire, ghost or haunted house, and their evolving legacies from the nineteenth century to contemporary popular culture.

Her most recent research has involved vampires that do not suck blood, including "psychic vampires" and vampires in stories where no explicit vampire is present, such as trauma in Tana French's detective fiction, offering a theoretical understanding of the creature. In this effort, she has also done work to recover understudied and largely forgotten horror Victorian texts and authors, such as Florence Marryat. She also currently serves on the executive board of the Midwest Victorian Studies Association as the graduate representative.