Liza also died around the time the Black Plague began to die out in England, mostly thanks to concerted efforts on the part of the government. She was named after Queen Elizabeth I, who died in 1603-and it was only a few years before Liza’s birth that King James VI of Scotland published Daemonologie, which inspired many later witch-hunters and “experts” on the subject of witchcraft. The character Liza Hempstock, who was executed on charges of witchcraft, probably died in the early 1600s, just as Britain began to codify punishments for witchcraft.

The various figures buried in the graveyard (or their headstones) introduce readers to various aspects of British society, from the rise of the medieval guild system to Britain’s witch-hunts. The Romans (like Caius Pompeius in the novel) arrived in Britain in 55 BCE, and Christianity followed by the year 200 CE. Some British barrow graves, however, date back to the Neolithic era and are believed to have been constructed around 3600 BCE. The novel often mentions barrow graves, or tumuli-underground burial sites built into hills-which became common in the Bronze Age (roughly 2900–800 BCE), when the pagan Celts inhabited the British Isles. The English cemetery where most of the novel takes place offers insight into the history of England going back several thousand years. He has been married twice and has four children. In addition to writing novels and children’s picture books, Gaiman has also written for and worked in film and television he’s appeared as himself in The Simpsons and has written episodes for Doctor Who. In particular, The Graveyard Book won the 2008 Newbery Medal.

Gaiman’s novels, like the Sandman series, have received a lot of praise and a number of awards. There, he wrote the Sandman comic series, which eventually became one of DC’s best selling titles and some of Gaiman’s most famous work.

He began writing for comic books in the mid-1980s, and the comic book publisher DC Comics hired him to write for them in 1987. He initially pursued a career in journalism, but he also published several short stories, a biography of the band Duran Duran, and a book of quotations. Like Bod in The Graveyard Book, Gaiman was a prolific reader as a child, a habit that followed him into adulthood. For instance, one headmaster forced seven-year-old Gaiman to withdraw from school due to his father’s role as a public relations official for the local Scientologist center.

When he was five, the family moved to Sussex so that Gaiman’s parents could study Scientology, but their religious affiliation caused some issues for Gaiman. Neil Gaiman was born in Portchester, England, and was the oldest of three children.

The graveyard book genre