McCay used metafictional techniques such as self-referentiality in his work. This was most frequent in "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend", where McCay sometimes put himself in the strip, or had characters address the reader. Sometimes characters become aware of the strip itself—a jealous lover tears the very strip apart in which he appears; another character fastens panel borders to his strip when he realizes the artist has forgotten them; and in a "Sammy Sneeze" episode Sammy's sneeze destroys the panel borders.