The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

By Washington Irving

Legend has it that the town of Sleepy Hollow is haunted by the ghost of the terrifying Headless Horseman. Ichabod Crane, the town's superstitious new school teacher, is about to find out if the legend is true. Ichabod has his heart set on marrying the beautiful heiress Katrina Van Tassel and acquiring her father's extravagant wealth. But local boy Brom Bones is also competing for her hand in marriage. He is willing to do just about anything to win her, including prey on Crane's overactive imagination. This is an unabridged version of one of American writer Washington Irving's most famous short stories, which gave rise to the American Gothic genre of writing. It was first published in 1820.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781467797856

Washington Irving

Nueva York, 1783 - Sunnyside, 1859. Escritor norteamericano perteneciente al mundo literario del costumbrismo. Washington Irving es el primer autor americano que utiliza la literatura para hacer reír y caricaturizar la realidad, creando además el estilo coloquial que después utilizarían Mark Twain y Hemingway.

Book preview

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Reviews for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

[arkrayder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another nice re-read. Always loved The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Would love more stories like this.

[sprainedbrain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't read this story since high school, and got the Audible version just because it was narrated by Tom Mison. Irving's descriptions of the fall scenery, the food at the banquet, and most of all poor Ichabod are wonderfully and funny. I adore the voice of the 'historian' telling the story. For the most part, this isn't a scary story, but that night ride still gave me chills. Mison's narration is excellent!

[fionaliddle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lot funnier than I was anticipating.

[caseybp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite ghost story of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many times, I have viewed the animated Disney version of this classic short story. The setting inspires mystery and foreboding. Irving presents a well-written and very descriptive story concerning the Dutch settlers to New York. The story hinges a little on jealousy and greed. Two men battle for the lovely and rich young lady, Katrina Van Tassel. Which will win the prize? The description of the early settlers and their beliefs and their life displays a people still dominated by superstition. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing one of the first truly American writers emerge and develop his craft, but also leaving a legacy of early America.

[oscarwilde87_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ranges among the most prominent of American short stories. Washington Irving wrote this story about a Headless Horseman in 1820. Set in the settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in 1790 the narrator, one Diedrich Knickerbocker, tells a tale about the competition of Ichabod Crane and Abraham Van Brunt for Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy famer. While Van Brunt is a rough fellow who likes to play tricks on the weaker people in town, the protagonist Ichabod Crane is a lanky schoolmaster who superstitiously believes in the writings of Cotton Mather's "History of New England Witchcraft."At a harvest party at the Van Tassels' home, Ichabod Crane listens to local legends about ghosts and the Headless Horseman. The latter is said to be a decapitated soldier who haunts Sleepy Hollow. When Sleepy Hollow is described at the beginning of the story it is a place of beauty in the woods near Tarry Town. However, this description turns upside down when Sleepy Hollow is described in connection with the local legend of the Headless Horseman. It is suddenly dark and bleak, full of ghosts and fear instilling.The story about Sleepy Hollow plays with the theme of local oral culture as stories are largely told and not written down. In contrast to that there is the schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, a man of letters. No wonder that the stories about the ghost of Sleepy Hollow filled him with fear. They are probably more vivid than anything he has read. He, in his role of schoolmaster, is placed in a town steeped in tradition as the new and learned man. It is hence part of his initiation and his process to fit in the local community to be introduced to local lore. Deeply impressed by the story of the Headless Horseman, Crane rides home from the party during the night and there is an encounter with the ghost of Sleepy Hollow. The next morning, his horse is back at the stable but the schoolmaster is nowhere to be seen. Soon, his books are burned and he is replaced by a new schoolmaster.All in all, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a nice tale of folklore, tradition and a guarded local culture that includes elements of the supernatural. A short read that will definitely be worth your while. Readers who like this story might also enjoy Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle."Four stars for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

[john257hopper · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I thought this would be a taut and short horror story, but two thirds of it was a dull recounting of Ichabod Crane's idiosyncrasies and his attempts to woo a local heiress. The actual encounter with the headless horseman is brief and, for me, totally lacking in any suspense. 1/5

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great little story. I haven't read this since I was probably in grade school or junior high -- a glimpse of a more innocent time.

[fmrox · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Classic story of the legend of sleepy hollow as written by Irving. The story is not as exciting as all of the movies. However, it was an enjoyable listed on a weekend road trip during the month of October.

[racharolla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written, vivid descriptions. A classic piece of literature.

[sushicat-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A nice story well told. The wording had me smiling throughout - especially trying to match the description of Ichabod Crane with Johnny Depp or the scene of various animals in pasture immediately followed by Ichabod's vision of the same animals as part of a sumptuous meal. Beyond the entertaining little tale weaving ghost stories with a rivalry about a young woman's heart, it gives a wonderful description of a rural small town community and it's protagonists. Too bad it is so short.

[champak256 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very grabbing plot

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What marvelous descriptions that Washington Irving makes as he relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster from Connecticut who is teaching in Tarry Town, New York, and his encounter with the infamous "headless horseman." Irving is a master at describing the setting. He did enjoy writing rather long sentences in places. I enjoyed this revisit to a book read many years ago, realizing that I now had a much greater appreciation for Irving's writing. This is a story that would make a great read-aloud to upper elementary and middle school students. I read this on my Kindle with the 1992 Public Domain Books edition. This version had some formatting issues when diacritics were introduced into the text.

[vibrantminds · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book is the classic tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. Set in Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod is the schoolmaster who is quite smitten with Katrina Van Tassel but so is Brom Bones who is his rival in every sense of the word. Superstitions plague the town including the one of the Headless Horseman who haunts the church yard and is seen nightly dashing from there to the battlefield in search of his head. A party ensues at the Van Tassel estate. Ichabod and Brom are both in attendance to woo Katrina. After the party Ichabod stays on but leaves looking rather downtrodden only to be pursued by the Headless Horseman and never to be heard from again. Brom in turn marries Kartrina and Ichabod is said to be seen in New York and whenever the story of Ichabod is told Brom Bones always laughs. The Disney cartoon movie version is a classic and pretty much sums up the entire story.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first experiences with this Halloween story were on old Halloween records my parents had and of watching the old Disney video in elementary school for Halloween. I realized though that I had never actually read the story itself. So I downloaded the free version on my Kindle.Everyone should know this story, or at least have heard of it. It's about Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow, and his run-in with the evil Headless Horseman.This story is very well-written and enjoyable even after such a long time. I was surprised to find that the Disney version was extremely accurate; so if you watch that short movie you will get a very good representation of the story.Most of the story is spent setting things up and some of the descriptions can get a bit drawn-out and boring. At the same time some of the descriptions are also rather amusing and humorous. All in all an excellent story that made for an interesting read. Might get a bit boring at parts for kids, but I was impressed at how funny some parts of it were too. If you get a chance to watch the Disney movie Sleepy Hollow, it is a great movie and really stays true to this story.This free Kindle version had some slight formatting problems in a couple places, nothing too horrible but I did notice them.

[jillrhudy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this classic every October. This year I listened to it on audio. I never, never tire of this story. My favorite part is the part where Irving describes the sumptuous farm/kingdom of Baltus Van Tassel, with increasing warm wit, through the ravening eyes of Ichabod. I think of it dearly as Van Tassel Estate Revisited, and always sympathize wholeheartedly with Ichabod's pinings after Old Money, New England style--oh, and Katrina too.

[linenandprint · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Hmm... Not sure why this was such a hit. Other than giving me a longing for Fall back east, I don't get it.

[pennylane78 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've heard several tellings and re-tellings of this famous story, but reading the original was quite a treat. It's one of those books that I SWEAR I read at some point, but I'm never really sure because I've heard the story so many times, it's just ingrained in my brain. This is a great story! If you haven't read it, it's super short, you should definitely give it a try!

[scolgo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very short novella that contains a surprising amount of exposition. Lengthy descriptions about the landscape, the town, food, Ichabod Crane's clothing, his lady love, etc... Very little about the Headless Hessian until nearly the end. A fun enough little tale but not quite what I was expecting.

[librarycin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsIchabod Crane is a schoolteacher in a small village. The village has a resident ghost, the Headless Horseman. This short story really doesn't have a lot to tell beyond a bit of background, then what happens when Ichabod meets the Headless Horseman. Even still, I liked it. It's a fun ghost story to read around Halloween and since it's so short, I just might read it every year at this time. Unfortunately, despite it being so short, when I read it, due to timing, I only got about half-way before I set it aside. I picked it up and finished the other half a little later, but I think the interruption kept me from enjoying it even more.Reread 1 year later:3.25 stars. Ok, the main part of the story, when Ichabod meets the Horseman is - no question - the best part. I think I need to read this without distractions, though. I will probably try to read this in October next year, again, as an annual Halloween read, but I'd like to remember to read at home with no distractions around me. The book is very descriptive and, not being a big fan of description, my mind did wander a little bit.

[ssimon2000-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic ghost story of Ichabod Crane and the Galloping Hessian, otherwise known as the Headless Horseman. Just about everyone is familiar with the story, so I won't go into details here.The narration by Tom Mison was very good. He simply has the right voice for reading this classic.

[death_by_papercut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very short & extremely fun. Mr. Irving has a great way with words.

[joririchardson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my 3rd of the three Halloween 2010 reads.When pondering what three books to choose for Halloween this year and browsing through some online suggestions, I was almost surprised to realize that I hadn't read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" yet. I saw an animated film adaption as a child, and I know the story, but I hadn't read the actual book.After requesting it at the library, I was surprised to find how tiny it was. It is actually a short story, and the edition I read just managed to be 71 pages, with the help of large font.It is the story of a well liked schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane, in a small 1700's New York town. The town is rumored to be haunted, and despite his scholarly outlook on life, Ichabod himself can feel an unnerving presence in Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod falls in love with a beautiful rich girl named Miss Katrina von Tussell, who seems to return his affections. It is all too good to be true, but Ichabod's luck takes an unfortunate turn when he is riding home one night...Though I am glad that I finally read this well known little short story, I can't say that I was overly impressed.The book is just too short for the reader to ever get very invested, and the headless horseman (the part that everyone remembers) is only featured on a page or two. The rest of the plot, which is meant to build up toward the scene of Ichabod fleeing from the horseman in the woods, does not have very much to do with the ending. I felt that the book was pretty pointless, all in all. There were three plot elements: a) Schoolteacher and pretty rich girl fall in love. b) Jealous fighting man decides to make an enemy of schoolteacher. c) Schoolteacher meets a ghost in the woods at night and is never seen again.If I hadn't already known the story going into this book, I would have been thinking at the last point: "wait - what?!"Really, it has nothing to do with the plot before that.The descriptions of the town were pretty at times, despite Irving's apparent aversion for periods (some sentances lasted an entire page - the first sentence in the book certainly did). A very quick read due to its small size, but not a book that I will be buying.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Listened to this book on the way home and I think it's the first time I've heard/read the whole story of Ichabod Crane. Everyone know the basics of the story and the headless horseman. But there was a lot that I had forgotten from the different films and of course each one interprets the ending in their own way. I liked this ending and I am happy to have finally had a chance to hear the original version. It makes it easier to appreciate the other interpretations that way.

[flamingrosedrakon · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a book that my sister and my four-year-old niece rather enjoyed but even though I am into the tall tales or early folk tales I just couldn't get into this particular one. Maybe I should have read this before "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" became one of those known throughout society in all its formats thus ensuring the plot was well given away before you even had a chance to read it. The author certainly does have a way of words and more or less ends up using them to fatten the book. He puts more efforts of describing a set table or the landscape about so that you aren't sure to be lost. If it wasn't for these lengthy discourses then we should surely not have this particular book to read. And it is sad to say that with such descriptions that he couldn't make his characters even better than what they were. Ichabod Crane whom so many praise as a hapless superstitious hero is a jerk past a jerk while the fair Katrina is truly not so fair. Instead as with most feminine portrayals of the time she tends to lean towards the coy hellcat instead of the virtuous daughter who stays out of trouble although both women are compared side by side. Then when it finally came down to that last chase Gunpowder let you down. He was suppose to have the Devil in his eye but instead ran from such a fiend whose headless state couldn't be recognized until he topped a hill. Really? Finally the ending after that despairing chase was a big letdown. No I won't spoil it but to go to such lengths since a fellow had vanished wouldn't have been too much. Then again it just may be what is done in those nice sheltered green harbors that the Dutch call home back in those far off hollows where fiends and goblins and witches dance before the masterful eye of the Headless Hessian.

[darcia_10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those stories that needs to be savored. The words have a beautiful cadence that make for great material to be read aloud. The story itself is fun, with vivid characters and a bit of mystery. But I go back to it every now and then just to experience the beauty of the language.

[beammey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is probably the best edition of Sleepy Hollow that I've read yet. The illustrations bring so much to the story and make it so much better. The story is one of my favorites and this is no exception. I would recommend this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was excited when my book club picked this because I am directing a play version right now. I have to say, I was rather disappointed. As there is no dialogue and Irving goes into such detail about everything, which is too much for a novella, the story drags and seems like nothing but exposition. The climax was lost in excess description.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle are classics, and pretty awesome! The rest of this collection is fairly uneven, and not so awesome. Still, it's hard to complain too much about a book that contains two "immortal classics"!

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Worth reading for historical value as "America's first ghost story." Find an illustrated version to read to the kids around Halloween time.