Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling author of the Newbery Medal-winning The Graveyard Book and Coraline, the basis for the hit movie. His other books include Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, American Gods, and Stardust, (winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award as one of 2000's top novels for young adults) as well as the short story collections M Is for Magic and Smoke and Mirrors. He is also the author of The Wolves in the Walls and The Day I Traded My Dad for Two Goldfish, both written for children. Among his many awards are the Eisner, the Hugo, the Nebula, the World Fantasy, and the Bram Stoker. Originally from England, he now lives in the United States.

Dave McKean has illustrated several award-winning comics, including the best-selling Batman: Arkham Asylum (written by Grant Morrison), Mr. Punch, Signal to Noise, Violent Cases (all written by Neil Gaiman), and his own Cages. His collected short stories Pictures That [Tick] won the Victoria & Albert Museum Book of the Year Award, and his short film N[eon] won overall first prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. McKean has illustrated, photographed, and designed hundreds of CD covers, comic covers, and book covers, including the entire Sandman series. He has worked on print and film projects with John Cale, Stephen King, the Rolling Stones, Lars Von Trier and SF Said, and created ad campaigns for Kodak, Nike, BMW Mini and Smirnoff, among others. He also directed the Jim Henson Productions film MirrorMask, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. McKean lives in England's Kent countryside.