The acclaimed fantasy novelist Neil Gaiman will appear in a forthcoming episode of The Simpsons, where he will be voicing the family's typically silent cat Snowball II.

The author confirmed the news on Twitter and posted an image of his appearance, which hints at a spoof of his masterful 2002 novella Coraline.

The image appears to indicate that the role of the novella's adventurous hero Coraline Jones will be assumed by Lisa Simpson, while Coraline's sarcastic black cat, who ventures in and out of a parallel dimension alongside her, will be assumed by Snowball II.