The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has long remained one of the most widely read early American works of fiction. First published in 1820, the short story written byWashington Irving has captured the attention of readers for almost two centuries. Set in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York in a quiet valley calledSleepy Hollow during the autumn months of 1790, the story combines a mixture of history, legend and fantasy that evokes images very appropriate for the Halloween season. While the larger part of the story is the stuff of fantasy, some of Irving's characters were inspired by actual individuals who lived in the area.

Irving writes with such romantic and frightening descriptions that his words stir the imagination in ways that no contemporary horror movie could hope to accomplish. For instance, "Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions; and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole nine fold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols."

The terrifying images of Irving's story have made the Headless Horseman an icon of American Halloween mayhem. "The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air," Irving writes, "is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the revolutionary war; and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind." Despite the story's age, the narrative has retained the ability to delight, entertain and frighten its readers and has been adapted repeatedly by other authors, for film, theater, audio, comic books and even videogames. The Headless Horseman will likely maintain its run as one of the most sought after Halloween stories for a long time to come, forever chasing the imaginations of children and adults alike.