It features Granny Weatherwax (introduced in Equal Rites), and her two associate witches, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick (introduced in Wyrd Sisters). They visit Genua, on the other side of the continent, where they confront Granny's sister, Lily Weatherwax, who is manipulating people using the power of stories. Another main theme is that of Voodoo. One of the characters is a voodoo witch named Erzulie Gogol (Erzulie is the name of a voodoo goddess, Gogol a Russian author who wrote about "Dead Souls" ), and a zombie named Baron Saturday (which is an obvious reference to Baron Samedi).