A Halloween Classic

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving was first published in 1820. Since then this short story has become an American literature classic and a favorite Halloween ghost story. Set in North Tarrytown, New York. Schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane competes for the hand of eighteen year old Katrina Van Tassel, only to find himself hunted by the menacing, Headless Horseman. Two hundred years after the story has been written, the town of Tarrytown, NY has since changed its name to Sleepy Hollow in order to embrace its connection to Irving’s famed story. Despite the gas stations and other modern shops along North Broadway, also known as Route 9, visitors can still envision the terrified ride that the village schoolteacher Ichabod Crane took from Sleepy Hollow, leaving a party given by the family of the Katrina Van Tassel. Henry Steiner, the village historian, occasionally gives tours of the one-mile route, pointing out the bridge to the church where the Headless Horseman mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind a trampled saddle and a smashed pumpkin. Today the bridge is gone, to mark the spot for sightseers two years ago on Halloween; the village erected a steel statue of the headless horseman preparing to hurl his jack-o’-lantern at his target.
Read a copy of, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow online, from Encyclopedia Britannica and have a Happy Halloween!