The Headless Horseman: From Folklore to a Halloween Classic
The Headless Horseman Legend | Before Irving: Europe's "headless riders" (Ireland's Dullahan, associated with omens of death), in 1820 Irving wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (The Sketch Book, New York's Hudson Valley), the Headless Horseman's backstory (a Hessian soldier whose head was blown off by a cannonball in the Revolutionary War, searching for his head at night), Ichabod Crane being chased (the bridge and church, the thrown "head" is actually a pumpkin), and why it became a Halloween classic (autumn atmosphere, pumpkin imagery, costumes and decorations)