Headless Horseman (Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

Updated on Sep 23, 2024

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Created by Washington Irving

Similar Ichabod Crane, Brom Van Brunt, Katrina Van Tassel, Abbie Mills, Mr Toad

The Headless Horseman is a fictional character from the short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by American author Washington Irving. The story, from Irving's collection of short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., has worked itself into known American folklore/legend through literature and film. It is generally about a Headless Horseman.

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Popular culture

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The Headless Horseman mascot for Sleepy Hollow High School, in Westchester County, New York, has been referred to as "America's scariest high school mascot".

The Headless Horseman appears in the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Just like the story, the Headless Horseman pursues Ichabod Crane which ends with the Headless Horseman throwing his pumpkin head at him. While it was mentioned what happened to Ichabod after his encounter with the Headless Horseman, it was mentioned that he has married a wealthy widow in a distant country. This rendition of the Headless Horseman was also featured as one of the villain characters in Disney's House of Mouse.

A third-season episode of Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark? depicts the Horseman as a real ghost, unlike the original novel.

In the 1999 Tim Burton film Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary (portrayed by Christopher Walken) summoned by Katrina Van's Tassell's stepmother Lady Van Tassell to eliminate her enemies.

References

Headless Horseman (Legend of Sleepy Hollow) Wikipedia

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