By Washington Irving
This is a great classic short story that is true to the gothic tradition of supernatural fiction. It follows poor Ichabod Crane as he eats and lusts his way through the town of Sleepy Hollow on his quest to capture the attention and affection of the young and beautiful Katrina VanTassel. As you’re reading you come to recognize that Ichabod is really not the hero of the tale, although at times you may feel sorry for him, you really are not meant to like this character. His motivation in life is to eat as much free food as he can and ogle all of the young and pretty maidens in the town. He has a critical eye that is unjustified and he is quite self absorbed and delusional about his own merits. Does he deserve what he gets in the end? I think so, after all, it doesn’t kill him, just maybe makes him pee his pants a little.
The story itself is full of classic gothic motifs and provides a commentary on the role and purpose behind superstition and supernatural belief. For the times, it was a great use of literature to criticize those of us who are simple minded enough to fall prey to silly superstitions, especially us daft women.
The short story is a little wordy here and there, over description you might say, as was common for the times, but all in all, an enjoyable read with some hair rising incidents to keep you turning the pages.
Review by Angela Minchella





