Sleepy Hollow as American Myth: Irving’s Story Retold, Adapted and Cemented in Popular Culture

Set near Tarrytown, New York, Washington Irving’s short story ＂The Legend of Sleepy Hollow＂ has become mythic in American culture. Its repeated reconceptions range from written works such as Christopher Golden and Ford Lytle Gilmore’s Horseman (2005) and Austin Dragon’s two Hunt for the Foul Murderer of Ichabod Crane books (2015) to film and TV adaptations such as Etienne Arnaud’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1912), Edward D. Venturini’s The Headless Horseman (1922), Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Fox Television’s Sleepy Hollow (2013-17) that combined Sleepy Hollow’s Ichabod Crane with Irving’s other creation, Rip Van Winkle. This book explores the tale’s host of afterlives, tracing its path from a gothic, comic story of Crane’s encounter with the ominous Headless Horseman to Halloween and horror icon and cultural landmark for generations.

Steve A. Wiggins is an independent scholar who has taught at Rutgers University, Montclair State University, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Carroll College, and Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary. He is currently an editor with an academic press in New York City.