Does the Headless Horseman frighten you as you think about someone in the haunt of human heads? If you enjoy shocking and horrifying books, this one’s for you. The setting of this story is in a spooky place called Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irvin is the author of this terrifying story. He wrote this book about a man named Ichabod Crane and the outcome of what happened on a dark and scary night.
The story begins with a young man named Ichabod Crane. He lives in Sleepy Hollow, in a town named TarryTown; now this place holds a lot of spooky ghost stories and haunts. But, the creepiest haunt out by far would be the tale of the Headless Horseman. Now you may be asking “What’s that”. He is exactly what you think of, a person without a head on the back of a horseback. He lost his head from a cannon-ball, in the American Revolutionary War. He would only come out at night and would go to the place where he lost his head and would make sure he was back in the ground before daybreak. Legend has it that he would go out looking for human heads around the countryside on a horseback.
Now, Ichabod Crane was a school teacher. When he wasn’t teaching, he would do this witchcraft with his favorite book “History of New England Witchcraft”. Ichabod enjoyed a lot of things but he mostly enjoyed the company of beautiful women. The one woman he really wanted was Katrina Van Tassel. She was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. Ichabod doesn’t just like her because of her great looks but also because she is an only child with her father’s wealth. Ichabod wanted to marry her but that wasn’t going to happen because Katrina was courted with Abraham Van Brunt but Ichabod calls him “Brom Bones’ ‘. Brom would pull pranks on Ichabod, like one time Brom and his friends broke into the school house and turned all the furniture upside down, so Brom Bones liked to pull a lot of pranks. Needless to say, they didn’t like each other.
Ichabod got an invitation to a party from Katrina. He borrowed a horse named Gunpowder from his neighbors so he could get there on time. Katrina was there as was Brom Bones! He talks to her and…..gets rejected.
Ichabod is leaving and gets Gunpowder to go back home. Since Ichabod is riding home in the dark he starts to get spooked about the ghost stories they were telling at the party and starts to hear some noises. He prods Gunpowder to go quicker and since Gunpowder is old it causes him to go off the road. When they are off the road Ichabod notices a figure that looks like a horse so he tells them to go ahead. The person doesn’t move but just stays there. Ichabod didn’t get a good look at the figure but once he does he notices that there is a person without a head, and the head is in his lap! He is terrified because it’s the Headless Horseman!! Ichabod kicks Gunpowder and he starts to go as fast as he can. He looks back and the Headless Horseman is following him. Gunpowder is running quickly and Ichabod sees the church bridge ahead. He thinks the Headless Horseman will stop chasing him and disappear but when Ichabod looks over his shoulder he doesn’t disappear, instead the Headless Horseman throws his pumpkin head. The next day Ichabod is nowhere to be found, he doesn’t show up anywhere, not even to the school house. Gunpowder returned home without a saddle. The town people searched everywhere and when they got to the church bridge they found Ichabods hat with a smashed pumpkin next to it. His disappearance became legend around Sleepy Hollow residents, and some believe it was the Headless Horseman who took him.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a really great Halloween story. It’s the perfect story for Halloween because the headless horseman would go riding on a horse back with a jack- o -lantern on his head. When I first heard of the story in 5th grade, I was scared that it was true and was so scared to go trick or treating. But when I told my mom about what I learned, she told me it was fake and not real. It was so scary that I thought it was real. That’s why it’s the perfect Halloween story. I love the legend of Sleepy Hollow but did you know Mrs. Ciminero also loves the story too?
There is this one quote that Mrs. Ciminero and I really like: “ “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow might be one of the most perfect spooky tales to read, listen to, or tell on a cool October night. I listened to the whole thing on one, chilly, misty, fall walk. As the leaves fell from the trees and the dew from the fog condensed on my coat, I was transported to Sleepy Hollow and the mysterious tale of Ichabod Crane and his encounter with the Headless Horseman.” — Matthew Fro
This is such a great quote because it just gets me excited about the story. Although the first part of the story is hard to get through, the ending is really good. Try to read it, or watch the movie. Hey, even try to find it on the Cartoon Network on Scooby Doo! You won’t be sorry. And if you are going out on Halloween, just keep your hands very close to your head–just sayin’.