The opening quote and some loose plot points come from the fairytale "The Nightingale".
The title comes from the Emily Dickinson poem, "Hope" is the thing with feathers.
The makeup effects that were applied to create Gary Cardero's fatal wounds, which are inflicted by Tim Steinkellner, were inspired by the film An American Werewolf in London.
"Steinkellner" is made up of the German words "stein," meaning "stone," and "kellner," meaning "waiter" (in the sense of a server in a restaurant), which could be taken to mean "those who are waiting for the stone."
"Seltenvogel" comes from the German "selten," meaning "rare," and "vogel," meaning "bird."