The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and other short stories
and Other Short Stories
'Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue'
Considered to be one of America's first ghost stories, the 1820 short story follows a schoolteacher who is competing against a farmer for a woman's hand. One night, he is haunted by the ghost of a headless horseman.
Inspired by folk stories he'd heard when travelling abroad, Washington Irving incorporated themes of superstition and greed into the short story. The legend has been celebrated for 200 years, and every Halloween, the headless horseman can be seen in the village of Sleepy Hollow.
Washington Irving, born in New York in 1783, became one of the most celebrated American writers of the nineteenth century. He began writing essays at the age of 19 and went on to author some of the nation's most enduring stories, including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In addition to his fiction, he wrote an extensive biography of George Washington. Irving passed away in 1859, shortly after the publication of Life of George Washington.
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