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    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    Ebook53 pages1 hour

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    By Washington Irving

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The original American ghost story 

    North of New York City lies Sleepy Hollow, a secluded glen rumored to be the home of countless phantoms and specters. Chief among them is the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian soldier whose head was removed by a stray cannonball in the Revolutionary War. He rides across the glen each night and disappears in a flash of fire and brimstone at the bridge near the Old Dutch Burial Ground.

    Ichabod Crane, a superstitious schoolteacher who recently arrived from Connecticut, wants to marry Katrina Van Tassel, the only child of a wealthy farmer. The locals spook him with story after story about the ghosts of Sleepy Hollow. Late one night, he spies a menacing figure at a crossroads. Worse yet, the man’s head appears to be on his saddle. Crane has only one chance to survive—he has to make it to the bridge before it’s too late.

    This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateSep 23, 2014
    ISBN9781497672314
    Author

    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.

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    Reviews for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    3.5/5

    914 ratings64 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Another nice re-read. Always loved The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Would love more stories like this.
    • 5/5
      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!
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      Very short & extremely fun. Mr. Irving has a great way with words.
    • 4/5
      Very grabbing plot
    • 5/5
      My favorite ghost story of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • 4/5
      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"!
    • 2/5
      Hmm... Not sure why this was such a hit. Other than giving me a longing for Fall back east, I don't get it.
    • 4/5
      This was really interesting. I've seen the movies Sleepy Hollow, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and many other versions which differ from each other. This story is what they were both based on so I was really pleased to see that they both followed this story closely.
    • 4/5
      A lot funnier than I was anticipating.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Irving is a master at setting a scene, with description, details and imagery. I loved this quote, "The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda;..." There is this type of subtle wit throughout the story. Very enjoyable.
    • 1/5

      4/10.

      A short story about a schoolteacher and his encounter with a headless ghost rider. Pretty dull.

    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Worth reading for historical value as "America's first ghost story." Find an illustrated version to read to the kids around Halloween time.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      This classic is beautifully written with elegant descriptions. I grabbed it because it was free, but would have gladly paid for this remarkable piece of literature.
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written, vivid descriptions. A classic piece of literature.
    • 3/5
      When I first bought my eReader, I was offered 100 free eBooks and a couple of links to sites like Project Gutenberg, where you can download the 'classics' for free. This one caught my eye because I remember going to see the film adaptation (starring the ever wonderful Johnny Depp - I couldn't resist a picture...) when I was younger and being petrified. I thought it would be a suitable bite-size read (at only 30-something pages) for the month of Hallowe'en.As is often the case, this original story published in 1820 bears very little resemblance to the film it became. It is set in around 1790 in a Dutch settlement known as 'Tarry Town' where the inhabitants are extremely superstitious, believing most of all in the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian trooper whose head was shot off by a stray cannonball during the American Revolutionary War. The ghost now, allegedly of course, haunts the site looking for his head. Ichabod Crane is the character who unwittingly crosses paths with this phantom, after spending the evening trying to charm the beautiful daughter of a rich farmer. The description in this story is superb and the atmosphere of the settlement created at the beginning is one of the most charming I remember reading. Irving leaves nothing to chance - I don't think a passage goes by where the reader isn't painted a clear picture - it really is almost artistic!Considering that this is rumoured to be one of the earliest examples of American writing still read today, it's fantastically accessible. The turns of phrase and "old-fashioned" preoccupations like your horse-riding stance, for example, rather than seeming remote just evoke a wonderful sense of history and a more innocent time. This story won't chill you right to the bone but it might give you goosebumps on a dark night - Ichabod's encounter with the ghost (or is it...?) is fast-paced and a good climax to the tale. Overall: Best devoured in one sitting, this is nothing like the blood bath of the film (aside from the names of characters...) and well worth the short while you'll spend on it!
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW is a well-known and loved classic by Washington Irving. As a kid, it really gave me the creeps, so I was excited to see the new audio version pop up as a freebie on Audible. It was narrated by the amazing Tom Mison, who happens to play the role of Ichabod Crane on the show Sleepy Hollow.Most know the story already. Awkward, lanky Ichabod falls for a farmer's daughter named Katrina Van Tassel, who is also being courted by the hulking Brom Bones. After leaving a party at the Van Tassel Farm, a terrified Ichabod Crane is chased through the woods of Sleepy Hollow by the Headless Horseman, and then...?Washington Irving was a fabulous writer, and the language in this story is beautiful. Tom Mison has the perfect voice to tell Ichabod's harrowing tale, and his acting talent shines through in the narration. I thought his English accent fit the story nicely, and I particularly loved how he pronounced the words autumnal, Hessian, and Brom Bones. Yeah, I could easily get lost in his voice. THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW is most definitely worth a listen!

    Book preview

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

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    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Washington Irving

    FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS

    OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER.

    A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,

    Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;

    And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,

    Forever flushing round a summer sky.

    CASTLE OF INDOLENCE.

    In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility.

    I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees that shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun as it broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley.

    From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land and pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his

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