How the Grim Reaper became a regular character carrying his scythe across the fantasy landscape of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. “There were so many outrageous things done in the name of fantasy. I thought ‘It’s time to have a laugh at it now’.”

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novel Hogfather is chock-full of supernatural figureheads—including Death, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost. And—oh, yeah—the Discworld version of Santa Claus. Said the author, “We are meddling with dark magic at the dark time of the year.”