The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

from the sketch book of Washington Irving

No cover

Washington Irving: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1897, R. H. Russell)

61 pages

English language

Published Dec. 28, 1897 by R. H. Russell.

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (1 review)

A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy farmer's daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman.

43 editions

Good narration

4 stars

I first heard a recording of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow a few years ago - 2010 according to Goodreads - and, having then recently seen the Johnny Depp film version, I was very distracted by trying to mesh the two tales. The film is very different to Washington Irving's original storyline. Now, for Halloween 2014, Audible.co.uk offered members a new recording for free so I gave the story another chance and am glad I did. The narrator, Tom Mison, is apparently in a TV series set in Sleepy Hollow, but he also does an excellent job of the reading. I love Irving's detailed descriptions of the town and its residents, their appearances and especially their food! I was surprised that, despite references to the headless horseman, he is quite a peripheral character making this a less spooky tale than I expected although, this time around, a satisfying one. Perhaps …