It sounded like a piece of blackboard being dragged over the nails of a wall of severed fingers.

He later became a fan of science fiction reading the works of authors as diverse as Alan MooreSamuel R. Gaiman has not written a direct sequel to American Gods but he has revisited the characters. In the late 1980s he wrote Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion in what he calls a "classic English humour" style.

His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust American Gods Coraline and The Graveyard Book. Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (pron.