One of my childhood influences that is unworldly enough to have inspired Run Detective was Thundercats (1980s).
Aliens? Ancient spirits of evil? Thundercats? Of course! Whether I knew it or not, the Thundercats sparked my interest in the paranormal. From the beginning, Lion-O talks to Jagga (a ghost), Safari Joe's robot Mule in episode 24 determines that Tygra possesses paranormal strength and with episodes like 'The Ghost Warrior' and characters like Mumm-ra the EVER LIVING! there is a whole range of material that continues to capture my imagination to this day.
Checkout the 2013 version of Thundercats, it's brilliant!