Washington Irving’s story takes us back to a period not long after the Revolutionary War, to a location on the Hudson River often referred to as the Tappan Zee. There are some beguiling characters in the story, notably the itinerant school teacher, Ichabod Crane. But not the only one! For after dark, on many a night, the ghost of a Hessian soldier rises from his grave, mounts his spectral horse, and races down country lanes, from cemetery to cemetery. He’s not on a killing rampage, as some would have you believe. He’s only looking for his head, which had been severed from his body by a stray cannon ball.

Sleepy Hollow