Title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Author: Washington Irving

Published: 1820

This is a story I’ve heard and seen in probably a dozen different versions but never actually read. It’s a classic and it’s really not long at all. So when I looked for a free ebook that I could knock out pretty quickly, I figured this one would do just fine.

If you base your knowledge of Sleepy Hollow on the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie that came out several years ago, you might be disappointed. Other than character names, it has very little to do with Washington Irving’s tale.

Ichabod Crane is a school teacher. He’s new to the area and catches the eye of young Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of a well off landowner. The reality of the situation is more likely that she caught Crane’s eye, as he fantasized about what it would be like to inherit all that land. She seemed more interested in using the schoolmaster to make Brom Bones jealous. It worked.

It isn’t long before Crane has a run-in with the locally legendary Headless Horseman. A series of events and Ichabod’s own superstition lead him to believe the ghost is chasing him home one night. And he’s never seen or heard from again. It all seems very suspicious. Especially when Brom and Katrina wind up married not long after Ichabod’s disappearance.

It’s a good, simple read. Kind of makes me want to watch the old Disney animated version Just to compare notes.