Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "washington-irving"

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Gothic tale of folklore and misfortune.

'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a short story by Washington Irving, originally published in 1820 as part of the collection 'The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon'. It recounts the tale, relayed by way of a shared anecdote, in turn hearsay on the part of the storyteller, of events that took place in the quiet, picturesque valley of Sleepy Hollow, purported to be the location of a higher than average level of unexplained phenomena.

Most infamous of all is the legend of the headless horseman, a soldier said to have been decapitated during battle, who gallops through the valley in hasty return to the churchyard where his corpse lies at rest. Steeped in a folkloric atmosphere, Irving's gothic prose perfectly conjures the essence of Sleepy Hollow and the legends of its locale, capturing Ichabod's character and his hopes and dreams related to romancing a local young woman, while vividly manifesting the schoolhouse, surrounding countryside and key event of the ball, building to its haunting climax as Ichabod encounters the legendary spectre for himself, and ending in the delicious ambiguity of supernatural tales oft-told second-hand.

Taking inspiration from European folk tales, the story is perhaps Irving's most famous work and continues to be popular over two centuries later. It has been adapted for the screen many times, many of them loosely, first as silent film 'The Headless Horseman' in 1922, in later decades followed by animations (including a family version by Disney) and television films, before returning to big screen live action with Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow' in 1999, with a four-season TV series also titled 'Sleepy Hollow' following in 2013-17. The tale's place in early American literature and the allure of its central supernatural premise have ensured its longevity, cementing it as a classic of Gothic literature.

Spooky and thrilling, 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a short slice of gothic horror perfect for autumnal nights in the countdown to Hallowe’en.



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