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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and Other Gothic Tales: The Best Ghost Stories and Folk Horror of Washington Irving
He was the greatest American writer of his mentor to Poe, Longfellow, and Hawthorne, his country’s first professional author, transformed copyright laws to give writers and artists more representation, and cultivated a previously non-existent literary culture throughout the United States. He was idolized internationally, and adored by great authors of the day, including Byron, Walter Scott, and his greatest supporter, Charles Dickens. His works and influence have left their mark on American and even global culture. Largely misunderstood due to his relatively moderate politics, his courtly personality, and his literary sentimentalism, Irving – once America’s most popular author – is due for rediscovery. His was the complex personality of an existentially anxious, emotionally complex man disturbed by his fame and haunted by loneliness. These disquieting themes course through his Gothic tales – “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Devil and Tom Walker,” and more – tales haunted by spectres of anxiety.While infrequently counted among the great American supernaturalists – writers like Poe, Lovecraft, Hawthorne, and Bierce – Irving’s fictional oeuvre is primarily devoted to speculative ghost stories, weird tales, fantasies, and horror. In fact, of the sixty-one short stories he penned, nearly forty of them have a supernatural or macabre basis. And there’s far more than the Headless Horseman to frighten ghost pirates, vengeful Doppelgangers, guillotined women, haunted treasure chests, hanged men’s ghosts, rural superstitions, dancing furniture, portraits with moving eyes, hellhounds, goblin horses, enchanted princesses, supernatural caves of wonder, haunted paintings, ghostly nuns, spectral crusaders, and possessed bedchambers are among his many bogeys.His universe is among the sunniest in horror fiction – brighter certainly than Le Fanu’s, Hodgson’s, or Stoker’s – but its sunnyside hides a dark posterior, engulfed in shadow and swallowed up in night. Irving is the very definition of one who whistles past a graveyard, bringing sangfroid into spaces of anxiety and self-doubt, and while his characters are grotesque, bordering on the burlesque – like the spindly Ichabod Crane, the bearded Rip Van Winkle, or the leather-trousered Bold Dragoon – they cannot entirely hide the very real fears that they represent. Irving’s horrors aren’t likely to make you jump, but they might just keep you awake, or fill your waking life with strange dreams. You may look twice at the twisted shadows beckoning you towards an unexplored street at night, or find yourself compelled to wander down an unfamiliar hiking trail, or staring out the window at night, questioning your life’s path. At its kindest, Irving’s world is one of narcotic daydreams that seduce and intoxicate; at its worst, it is waking up later that night – alone, confused, and hungover. His fantasies are pleasantly seductive, but like Rip Van Winkle’s “wicked flagon,” they also have a powerful bite. TALES INCLUDED in this ANNOTATED Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Wolfert's Roost |Rip Van Winkle | St. Mark's Eve | The Spectre Bridegroom | The Hunting Dinner | Adv. of My Uncle | Adv. of My Aunt | Adv. of My Grandfather | Adv. of the German Student | Guests from Gibbet Island | Dolph Heyliger | The Devil and Tom Walker | Golden Dreams | Don Juan | The Prior of San Minorca | The Mason's Adventure | The Arabian Astrologer | The Two Discreet Statues | The Moor's Legacy | Don Munio de Hinojosa | The Engulfed Convent
604 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 29, 2020
26 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Washington Irving
5,686 books1,065 followersPeople remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories "
Rip Van Winkle
" and "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
," contained in
The Sketch Book
(1820).
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 21, 2022
With 5 short stories by Washington Irving in this collection, his two best are among them. First was “Rip van Winkle”, that friendly farmer with a lack of drive and an overwhelming wife who comes upon a group of strange-looking beings as he wanders into the Catskill Mountains to escape her berating. After accepting a drink, he falls asleep for 20 years. When he wakes up, he’s an old man with a white beard several feet long and everything and everyone has changed. He actually sleeps through the Revolutionary War! Goodness! Imagine his confusion when he doesn’t realize they are a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer under English rule. This is a clever tale that has become one of America’s most well-known folk tales.
Rip…was one of those happy mortals of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who…would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.
Next, the famous “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with it’s gothic elements and the well-known, strict school teacher named Ichabod Crane who comes from Connecticut to the town of Sleepy Hollow, a town in which most of the residents are descended from its original Dutch settlers. Ichabod’s imagination can get the best of him since he is prone to believing in the supernatural tales he’s always reading and telling others and listening to others tell. He’s really a fraidy cat down deep with grand ideas that are a little on the greedy side and an insatiable hunger. Not to mention his awkward and scarecrow-like physique:
He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that may have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small…with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.
It is said that the ghost of the Headless Horseman roams the area usually riding his horse by the church. He is supposed to be a Hessian soldier who lost his head in the Revolutionary War. Supposedly he is always looking for his head. Since Ichabod Crane is particularly interested in tales of ghosts and uncanny happenings, he is completely fascinated by this story. He is also infatuated with the beautiful Katrina van Tassel and her wealth and attempts to win her hand. He is not alone as Brom Bones, a boisterous, handsome and capable suitor plays pranks to intimidate Ichabod and sway his attentions toward Katrina.
This is a rather comical tale very detailed in its descriptions and such vivid prose. Here are some fantastic examples:
Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was, to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they sat spinning by the fire, with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges, and haunted houses, and particularly of the headless horseman, or galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as they sometimes called him.
[H]e would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman.
These are the best two of the 5 stories with the highest ratings of 5 stars and the other 3 are rated 3 stars, so I will give the entire collection 4 stars.
Rip…was one of those happy mortals of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who…would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.
Next, the famous “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with it’s gothic elements and the well-known, strict school teacher named Ichabod Crane who comes from Connecticut to the town of Sleepy Hollow, a town in which most of the residents are descended from its original Dutch settlers. Ichabod’s imagination can get the best of him since he is prone to believing in the supernatural tales he’s always reading and telling others and listening to others tell. He’s really a fraidy cat down deep with grand ideas that are a little on the greedy side and an insatiable hunger. Not to mention his awkward and scarecrow-like physique:
He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that may have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small…with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.
It is said that the ghost of the Headless Horseman roams the area usually riding his horse by the church. He is supposed to be a Hessian soldier who lost his head in the Revolutionary War. Supposedly he is always looking for his head. Since Ichabod Crane is particularly interested in tales of ghosts and uncanny happenings, he is completely fascinated by this story. He is also infatuated with the beautiful Katrina van Tassel and her wealth and attempts to win her hand. He is not alone as Brom Bones, a boisterous, handsome and capable suitor plays pranks to intimidate Ichabod and sway his attentions toward Katrina.
This is a rather comical tale very detailed in its descriptions and such vivid prose. Here are some fantastic examples:
Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was, to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they sat spinning by the fire, with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges, and haunted houses, and particularly of the headless horseman, or galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as they sometimes called him.
[H]e would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman.
These are the best two of the 5 stories with the highest ratings of 5 stars and the other 3 are rated 3 stars, so I will give the entire collection 4 stars.
April 18, 2020
Para além da avaliação individual dos contos, atribuo 3,5 estrelas ao livro no seu todo.
Foi uma viagem interessante pela escrita e imaginação de Washinghton Irving. Nem sempre me agradaram os temas escolhidos ou a sua escrita, mas de uma forma geral foi uma experiência positiva. Do conjunto, os meus contos favoritos foram o primeiro e o último, o primeiro no âmbito do fantástico e o último uma pequena e parcial história de vida.
Pela escrita demasiado descritiva e por vezes aborrecida e pelos temas pouco cativantes ou surpreendentes, não será uma "leitura recomendada" por mim, mas não foi uma má leitura.
Vejam em baixo o que achei dos cinco contos deste livro.
Rip Van Winkle ( 4,5 estrelas )
Junto às místicas Catskill Mountains, origem de inúmeras lendas, crenças e histórias fantásticas, existe uma pequena aldeia, fundada por holandeses. Um dos habitantes dessa aldeia é Rip Van Winkle um simpático homem de bom coração, mas de natureza um pouco preguiçosa, e por tal atormentado pela sua esposa. Um dia para fugir a mais uma briga doméstica, resolve ir caçar para as montanhas e perde a noção do tempo… O que aconteceu depois, fez com que ele se tornasse uma lenda viva...
Gostei mesmo muito de ler esta interessante lenda de Rip Van Winkle, que está recheada de tantos elementos históricos quanto fantásticos. Foi para mim inevitável empatizar e simpatizar com Rip Van Winkle e uma autêntica delicia ler a sua história. Muito curioso o facto de a lenda nos ser contada enquanto verdadeira, como se realmente tivesse acontecido. Só tive pena de não ter havido mais, achei demasiado curto e o enredo demasiado simples.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2,5 estrelas)
O professor Ichabod Crane é enviado para leccionar na escola de uma pequena vila, uma vila fundada por holandeses à imagem da aldeia do conto anterior (de notar que estamos também geograficamente perto do local onde ocorreu a lenda de Rip Van Winkle). Junto a essa pequena vila, existe um local “assombrado” e origem de muitas e arrepiantes histórias fantásticas, chamado de Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane é um verdadeiro crente em todos estes fenómenos e apesar do sem número de aparições que habitam este lugar, o espírito dominante e mais temido é o do “Cavaleiro sem Cabeça” …
Tendo visto a adaptação cinematográfica de 1999 desta história, protagonizada por Johhny Depp e realizada por Tim Burton, este conto foi uma enorme desilusão. É incomparavelmente melhor a sua adaptação cinematográfica… Para mim o conto está mal estruturado, é demasiado descritivo, e muito pouco interessante. Salvou-o as primeiras e últimas páginas mas os “entretantos” foram bem penosos de ler. Se no outro conto pedia mais história, aqui cortaria grande parte do encher chouriços que tornou esta leitura bem aborrecida. Felizmente, inspirou um excelente filme.
The Spectre Bridegroom (3 estrelas)
Estamos agora no alto das montanhas, num castelo alemão, local não menos propício a histórias de espectros e assombrações que os cenários dos dois contos anteriores. O dono destes domínios é o Barão Von Landshort. Apesar de ter apenas uma filha, a mesma é dotada de grande beleza e considerada a mais linda e prendada de toda a região. Mantida pelas tias longe do sexo oposto, é prometida pelo seu pai a um jovem de família igualmente nobre. E eis que para alegria de todos, finalmente chega o dia de conhecer o noivo…
Uma história simples, com algum interesse e agradável de ler, mas nada marcante. Pouco ou nada se tira desta história e seguramente irei esquecê-la em pouco tempo.
The Pride of The Village (3,5 estrelas)
Este é um conto bastante diferente dos anteriores uma vez que não há aqui qualquer vestígio do fantástico. Viajamos agora para uma aldeia rural inglesa e para uma história de amor, tão bonita quanto trágica. É a história de uma linda e inocente rapariga e da sua relação com um jovem oficial cujo regimento ficou aquartelado junto da sua aldeia. Uma simples história de amor, tantas vezes repetida... Achei a escrita muito bonita, mas ao enredo falta-lhe novidade e força.
Mountjoy (4,5 estrelas)
Voltamos agora ao Estado de Nova Iorque e às imediações do rio Hudson, como acontece nos dois primeiros contos, mas estamos novamente fora do registo do fantástico no que se refere aos acontecimentos deste conto. O autor conta-nos passagens da história de um jovem rapaz até aos seus vinte anos. Um personagem muito curioso e interessante, que é capaz de nos encantar e desgostar ao mesmo tempo. Adorei este conto e foi uma excelente forma de terminar o livro.
Clique aqui para o post completo sobre o livro no LinkedBooks.
Foi uma viagem interessante pela escrita e imaginação de Washinghton Irving. Nem sempre me agradaram os temas escolhidos ou a sua escrita, mas de uma forma geral foi uma experiência positiva. Do conjunto, os meus contos favoritos foram o primeiro e o último, o primeiro no âmbito do fantástico e o último uma pequena e parcial história de vida.
Pela escrita demasiado descritiva e por vezes aborrecida e pelos temas pouco cativantes ou surpreendentes, não será uma "leitura recomendada" por mim, mas não foi uma má leitura.
Vejam em baixo o que achei dos cinco contos deste livro.
Rip Van Winkle ( 4,5 estrelas )
Junto às místicas Catskill Mountains, origem de inúmeras lendas, crenças e histórias fantásticas, existe uma pequena aldeia, fundada por holandeses. Um dos habitantes dessa aldeia é Rip Van Winkle um simpático homem de bom coração, mas de natureza um pouco preguiçosa, e por tal atormentado pela sua esposa. Um dia para fugir a mais uma briga doméstica, resolve ir caçar para as montanhas e perde a noção do tempo… O que aconteceu depois, fez com que ele se tornasse uma lenda viva...
Gostei mesmo muito de ler esta interessante lenda de Rip Van Winkle, que está recheada de tantos elementos históricos quanto fantásticos. Foi para mim inevitável empatizar e simpatizar com Rip Van Winkle e uma autêntica delicia ler a sua história. Muito curioso o facto de a lenda nos ser contada enquanto verdadeira, como se realmente tivesse acontecido. Só tive pena de não ter havido mais, achei demasiado curto e o enredo demasiado simples.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2,5 estrelas)
O professor Ichabod Crane é enviado para leccionar na escola de uma pequena vila, uma vila fundada por holandeses à imagem da aldeia do conto anterior (de notar que estamos também geograficamente perto do local onde ocorreu a lenda de Rip Van Winkle). Junto a essa pequena vila, existe um local “assombrado” e origem de muitas e arrepiantes histórias fantásticas, chamado de Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane é um verdadeiro crente em todos estes fenómenos e apesar do sem número de aparições que habitam este lugar, o espírito dominante e mais temido é o do “Cavaleiro sem Cabeça” …
Tendo visto a adaptação cinematográfica de 1999 desta história, protagonizada por Johhny Depp e realizada por Tim Burton, este conto foi uma enorme desilusão. É incomparavelmente melhor a sua adaptação cinematográfica… Para mim o conto está mal estruturado, é demasiado descritivo, e muito pouco interessante. Salvou-o as primeiras e últimas páginas mas os “entretantos” foram bem penosos de ler. Se no outro conto pedia mais história, aqui cortaria grande parte do encher chouriços que tornou esta leitura bem aborrecida. Felizmente, inspirou um excelente filme.
The Spectre Bridegroom (3 estrelas)
Estamos agora no alto das montanhas, num castelo alemão, local não menos propício a histórias de espectros e assombrações que os cenários dos dois contos anteriores. O dono destes domínios é o Barão Von Landshort. Apesar de ter apenas uma filha, a mesma é dotada de grande beleza e considerada a mais linda e prendada de toda a região. Mantida pelas tias longe do sexo oposto, é prometida pelo seu pai a um jovem de família igualmente nobre. E eis que para alegria de todos, finalmente chega o dia de conhecer o noivo…
Uma história simples, com algum interesse e agradável de ler, mas nada marcante. Pouco ou nada se tira desta história e seguramente irei esquecê-la em pouco tempo.
The Pride of The Village (3,5 estrelas)
Este é um conto bastante diferente dos anteriores uma vez que não há aqui qualquer vestígio do fantástico. Viajamos agora para uma aldeia rural inglesa e para uma história de amor, tão bonita quanto trágica. É a história de uma linda e inocente rapariga e da sua relação com um jovem oficial cujo regimento ficou aquartelado junto da sua aldeia. Uma simples história de amor, tantas vezes repetida... Achei a escrita muito bonita, mas ao enredo falta-lhe novidade e força.
Mountjoy (4,5 estrelas)
Voltamos agora ao Estado de Nova Iorque e às imediações do rio Hudson, como acontece nos dois primeiros contos, mas estamos novamente fora do registo do fantástico no que se refere aos acontecimentos deste conto. O autor conta-nos passagens da história de um jovem rapaz até aos seus vinte anos. Um personagem muito curioso e interessante, que é capaz de nos encantar e desgostar ao mesmo tempo. Adorei este conto e foi uma excelente forma de terminar o livro.
Clique aqui para o post completo sobre o livro no LinkedBooks.
September 12, 2025
Here I'm focusing on just a pair of the less familiar items in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Two tales about true love, yet one’s a tragedy and the other a comedy; one is set in rural England, another in a fairytale German barony, yet both also involve a degree of duplicity. ‘The Spectre Bridegroom’ is by far the longest, and worth a longer consideration; though slighter, ‘The Pride of the Village’ is worth a mention to compare and contrast with its companion.
Both appear in Washington Irving’s collection of short stories, first appearing as separate items between 1819 and 1820 and then together as ‘sketches’, as if under the authorship of one of his jokey aliases, a ‘gentleman’ called Geoffrey Crayon, when the American was then living in England.
Though not as familiar as his popular ‘Rip van Winkle’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ offerings – also included in the Sketch Book – both these tales, despite the differences in detail, have the virtue of retaining the expected mix of antiquarian whimsy and sentimental humour that generally characterise Irving's short stories.
As a framing introduction to ‘The Spectre Bridegroom’ in The Sketch Book Irving pictures for us the kitchen in a Flemish inn in which a Swiss storyteller recounts a comic parody on Gottfried August Bürger’s 1774 ballad Lenore, which Walter Scott had adapted as ‘William and Helen’. The original German ballad had the surprise return of Lenore’s fiancé from the battlefield where he had been pronounced dead. He gallops off with her on his steed towards a cemetery where the awful truth is revealed, presaged by the rider admitting to her that ‘The Dead travel fast’.
Irving’s version asserts its irreverent approach from the start with humorous descriptions of the Baron, his castle and the betrothal of his daughter to an unseen nobleman’s son. On the way to his wedding the fiancé is killed by brigands and his companion, despite being the son of one of the Baron’s disliked neighbours, goes to deliver the dread news. However, unrecognised, he is comically given no chance to deliver the bad tidings and is received as the future bridegroom.
The young pair fall in love at first sight but, assailed by conscience, he departs at the first opportunity with no explanation. Subsequently the news arrives of the real fiancé’s death and of course, we are amused to note the reactions to the departed companion, now assumed to be a spectre bridegroom! Unlike the original ballad, though, everything is happily resolved.
The same can’t be said of ‘The Pride of the Village’, which absolutely chimes in with the ethos of Gothic Romanticism. The narrator observes the melancholy attending the funeral procession in an English village somewhat off the beaten track. The village’s ‘pride’ was the innocent young May Queen who was all sweetness and light until tragedy struck. A sophisticated young soldier had been billeted nearby and the pair were immediately attracted to each other; the relationship was conducted in all innocence until the time came for the battalion to depart.
What does the soldier do? He suggests that the maiden accompanies him, to in effect become a camp follower with all that this might imply. When she understands the import of this she is so devastated she begins a sharp decline, at which point the soldier has to leave with the army. Despite the contrite and despondent soldier eventually obtaining leave to visit her as she woefully wastes away, we can already guess what the foregone conclusion will be.
Two tales, then, featuring death and a maiden but each very different in tone and outcome. Having been given an outline synopsis is there any merit in readers seeking out Irving’s stories for themselves? Well, of course there is: his tales wouldn’t have remained popular for two centuries if they weren’t worth the effort. Granted, they can sometimes proceed in a more leisurely way than many moderns with short attention spans may find comfortable, but imagine reading them by candlelight or having them told aloud by a winter’s fireside for the atmosphere they’re designed to evoke!
In the case of these two stories there’s more. ‘The Spectre Bridegroom’ offers humorous touches, such as the noble name of the Katzenellenbogen family, the bathetic meaning of which is … ‘cat’s elbow’, and ironic asides such as “however scantily the Baron von Landshort might be provided with children, his household was by no means a small one; for Providence had enriched him with abundance of poor relatives.” And accompanying ‘The Pride of the Village’ is a deep melancholy, even if a hint of pathetic fallacy is evident in the description of the graveyard to which the narrator returns on a revisit to the village:
Both appear in Washington Irving’s collection of short stories, first appearing as separate items between 1819 and 1820 and then together as ‘sketches’, as if under the authorship of one of his jokey aliases, a ‘gentleman’ called Geoffrey Crayon, when the American was then living in England.
Though not as familiar as his popular ‘Rip van Winkle’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ offerings – also included in the Sketch Book – both these tales, despite the differences in detail, have the virtue of retaining the expected mix of antiquarian whimsy and sentimental humour that generally characterise Irving's short stories.
“He was a corpulent old Swiss, who had the look of a veteran traveller. . . . He was interrupted more than once by the arrival of guests, or the remarks of his auditors; and paused now and then to replenish his pipe; at which times he had generally a roguish leer, and a sly joke for the buxom kitchen-maid.
“I wish my readers could imagine the old fellow lolling in a huge arm chair, one arm akimbo, the other holding a curiously twisted tobacco pipe, formed of genuine ‘écume de mer’, decorated with silver chain and silken tassel—his head cocked on one side, and a whimsical cut of the eye occasionally, as he related the following story.”
— ‘The Inn Kitchen’
As a framing introduction to ‘The Spectre Bridegroom’ in The Sketch Book Irving pictures for us the kitchen in a Flemish inn in which a Swiss storyteller recounts a comic parody on Gottfried August Bürger’s 1774 ballad Lenore, which Walter Scott had adapted as ‘William and Helen’. The original German ballad had the surprise return of Lenore’s fiancé from the battlefield where he had been pronounced dead. He gallops off with her on his steed towards a cemetery where the awful truth is revealed, presaged by the rider admitting to her that ‘The Dead travel fast’.
Irving’s version asserts its irreverent approach from the start with humorous descriptions of the Baron, his castle and the betrothal of his daughter to an unseen nobleman’s son. On the way to his wedding the fiancé is killed by brigands and his companion, despite being the son of one of the Baron’s disliked neighbours, goes to deliver the dread news. However, unrecognised, he is comically given no chance to deliver the bad tidings and is received as the future bridegroom.
The young pair fall in love at first sight but, assailed by conscience, he departs at the first opportunity with no explanation. Subsequently the news arrives of the real fiancé’s death and of course, we are amused to note the reactions to the departed companion, now assumed to be a spectre bridegroom! Unlike the original ballad, though, everything is happily resolved.
The same can’t be said of ‘The Pride of the Village’, which absolutely chimes in with the ethos of Gothic Romanticism. The narrator observes the melancholy attending the funeral procession in an English village somewhat off the beaten track. The village’s ‘pride’ was the innocent young May Queen who was all sweetness and light until tragedy struck. A sophisticated young soldier had been billeted nearby and the pair were immediately attracted to each other; the relationship was conducted in all innocence until the time came for the battalion to depart.
What does the soldier do? He suggests that the maiden accompanies him, to in effect become a camp follower with all that this might imply. When she understands the import of this she is so devastated she begins a sharp decline, at which point the soldier has to leave with the army. Despite the contrite and despondent soldier eventually obtaining leave to visit her as she woefully wastes away, we can already guess what the foregone conclusion will be.
Two tales, then, featuring death and a maiden but each very different in tone and outcome. Having been given an outline synopsis is there any merit in readers seeking out Irving’s stories for themselves? Well, of course there is: his tales wouldn’t have remained popular for two centuries if they weren’t worth the effort. Granted, they can sometimes proceed in a more leisurely way than many moderns with short attention spans may find comfortable, but imagine reading them by candlelight or having them told aloud by a winter’s fireside for the atmosphere they’re designed to evoke!
In the case of these two stories there’s more. ‘The Spectre Bridegroom’ offers humorous touches, such as the noble name of the Katzenellenbogen family, the bathetic meaning of which is … ‘cat’s elbow’, and ironic asides such as “however scantily the Baron von Landshort might be provided with children, his household was by no means a small one; for Providence had enriched him with abundance of poor relatives.” And accompanying ‘The Pride of the Village’ is a deep melancholy, even if a hint of pathetic fallacy is evident in the description of the graveyard to which the narrator returns on a revisit to the village:
“It was a wintry evening; the trees were stripped of their foliage; the churchyard looked naked and mournful, and the wind rustled coldly through the dry grass. Evergreens, however, had been planted about the grave of the village favourite, and osiers were bent over it to keep the turf uninjured.”
July 30, 2019
These short stories were so good and so interesting, and I really enjoyed seeing some of the familiar touches and reading the stories I never knew as well
(Read for the Reading Rush, and the challenges purple on the cover and title longer that 5 words :) It was suppose to be for book to movie adaptation, but I was not in the mood to watch the movie, so no challenge)
(Read for the Reading Rush, and the challenges purple on the cover and title longer that 5 words :) It was suppose to be for book to movie adaptation, but I was not in the mood to watch the movie, so no challenge)
July 17, 2018
Rip Van Winkle - 2.5☆
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 4☆
The Spectre Bridegroom: a Traveller's Tale - 3.5☆
The Pride of the Village - 3.5☆
Mountjoy: or some Passages out of the Life of a Castel Builder - 3☆
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 4☆
The Spectre Bridegroom: a Traveller's Tale - 3.5☆
The Pride of the Village - 3.5☆
Mountjoy: or some Passages out of the Life of a Castel Builder - 3☆
June 12, 2025
Irving is such a creep and it shows in his writing, the stories are not enjoyable, lack substance and are predictable - go see adaptions and re-works of sleepy hollow, but definitely give the book a miss.
November 25, 2025
It's fascinating to think of how the short Legend of Sleepy Hollow evolved to so many variations. There's not much to the story, so the movies are fueled by the imagination and creativity of the screenwriters.
August 4, 2017
Things were going smooth. Though I wasn't particularly enjoying the writing, I was ready to give this book 4 stars on account of it having inspired the (much better) adaptations of "Sleepy Hollow" - which probably wasn't even a fair system to adopt. Anyway, a little further down the line, I knew I had to be honest and rate it 3 stars because Mr Irving's style was too obvious and his short stories lacked substance, not to mention the constant mention to female fragility.
And then came Mountjoy. What a piece of shit. If Mr Collins from "Pride and Prejudice" were ever to write a story, this would be it. The first-person narration is the most condescending garbage you will ever come upon. The misogyny is so blatant all you want to do is slap the protagonist in the face and yell: "DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO? You and me, outside, now!"
As for the other stories, well, "Rip van Winkle" is about falling asleep and suddenly waking up many decades later. "Sleepy Hollow" is disappointingly simple, Tim Burton's film adaptation having much more substance in terms of story. "The Spectre's Bridegroom" is okay. "The Pride of the Village" is quite dull.
I was expecting a collection of horror tales, but this is definitely not it. More like a collection of horrible tales.
Good luck.
And then came Mountjoy. What a piece of shit. If Mr Collins from "Pride and Prejudice" were ever to write a story, this would be it. The first-person narration is the most condescending garbage you will ever come upon. The misogyny is so blatant all you want to do is slap the protagonist in the face and yell: "DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO? You and me, outside, now!"
As for the other stories, well, "Rip van Winkle" is about falling asleep and suddenly waking up many decades later. "Sleepy Hollow" is disappointingly simple, Tim Burton's film adaptation having much more substance in terms of story. "The Spectre's Bridegroom" is okay. "The Pride of the Village" is quite dull.
I was expecting a collection of horror tales, but this is definitely not it. More like a collection of horrible tales.
Good luck.
October 21, 2010
A story is only as good as its telling,
and Washington Irving is indeed a Master Storyteller.
Not consistently, but that has the virtue of making his
classic stories shine ever more brightly.
"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
are classics. With vivid main characters and rich,descriptive language they are a sheer indulgence
of Wordsmanship.
The other three stories are enjoyable enough but really their best purpose is in accentuating the brilliance of the former two.
The Wordsworth Classic paperback has as well the Master Illustrator
Arthur Rackham whose sketches of Rip van Winkle and Ichabod Crane especially MUST be the definitive versions and stand for ALL Time.
As a diversionary sidetrack and escape from the Heavy Highway of Culture and Thought,
these are no less Masterpieces and 'Musts' for becoming a fully-rounded educated and happy reader.
and Washington Irving is indeed a Master Storyteller.
Not consistently, but that has the virtue of making his
classic stories shine ever more brightly.
"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
are classics. With vivid main characters and rich,descriptive language they are a sheer indulgence
of Wordsmanship.
The other three stories are enjoyable enough but really their best purpose is in accentuating the brilliance of the former two.
The Wordsworth Classic paperback has as well the Master Illustrator
Arthur Rackham whose sketches of Rip van Winkle and Ichabod Crane especially MUST be the definitive versions and stand for ALL Time.
As a diversionary sidetrack and escape from the Heavy Highway of Culture and Thought,
these are no less Masterpieces and 'Musts' for becoming a fully-rounded educated and happy reader.
October 14, 2018
4.5*
First of all, I'm not a huge fan of classics. But it was one of my bookish resolutions for this year to read more of them. It helps that I simply love these Wordsworth Classics Editions! I choose Washington Irving mainly because of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I was little bit ashamed, that I never read it but in the end, I much more enjoyed his other stories! This format of short stories helped me to read this whole book. And I'm surprise how much I liked it.
First of all, I'm not a huge fan of classics. But it was one of my bookish resolutions for this year to read more of them. It helps that I simply love these Wordsworth Classics Editions! I choose Washington Irving mainly because of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I was little bit ashamed, that I never read it but in the end, I much more enjoyed his other stories! This format of short stories helped me to read this whole book. And I'm surprise how much I liked it.
Read
July 28, 2010The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by Washington Irving (1968)
October 20, 2011
I truly only loved a couple of tales in this little collection and that's why it only gets 2 out of 5 possible stars from me.
August 16, 2015
Great short stories. Not the typical stories of modern writers that require quick dramatic twists and suprises. Just enjoyable reading.
April 9, 2017
3.5 stars. I loved one of the stories (can't remember the title) and enjoyed the other three. I was disappointed by the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was nothing like what I had expected...
March 29, 2015
I really liked the stories in this with the exception of Mountjoy.
January 18, 2016
"Rip van Winkle" and "The Spectre Bridegroom" were excellent but I liked most "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". All reminded me of childhood. :D
October 23, 2018
Rip Van Winkle - 3.5/5
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 5/5
The Spectre Bridegroom: a Traveller's Tale - 4/5
The Pride of the Village - 3.5/5
Mountjoy 1/5
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 5/5
The Spectre Bridegroom: a Traveller's Tale - 4/5
The Pride of the Village - 3.5/5
Mountjoy 1/5
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews