[issybird]

When I read this, I couldn't help thinking of other works set in graveyards, especially where the dead are animate and interact with the living. One of my favorite books from last year was George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. Another fairly recent read of mine is Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place, set very recognizably in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Then there's the drama Our Town.

I'm starting from this point to say that I felt there were a lot of shout-outs to other works, as has been mentioned above. The first thing I thought of with the Macabray was Mary Poppins. And surely Silas is borrowed from Buffy? Can you see a reference to the Bishop of Bath and Wells, as portrayed here, and not think of The Black Adder? (Well, I couldn't.)