The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 1980 TV Adaptation of the Washington Irving Story

Looking for a Halloween flick that's less scary and with a bit of comedy? This 1980 TV adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a more lighthearted take on the book and yet is still a spooky treat. Jeff Goldblum stars as the awkward Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher who's more interested in books and teaching than brawls. He's got his hands full with the local tough guy, Brom Bones (who is played by Dick Butkus), and the beautiful Katrina van Tassel (Meg Foster).

The movie has a few laughs, from Ichabod's clumsiness to some of his interactions with the schoolchildren and townspeople. But don't worry, there are still enough spooky scenes to keep things interesting. The Headless Horseman might not be the scariest portrayal ever in film adaptations, but the directing and story style of this film keeps the character and film's atmosphere eerie enough.

So grab a snack, turn off the lights, and watch an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that you'll definitely keep in your Halloween playlist.



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In addition to this film adaptation of the book, you can read the full eBook for free at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41

Also available are the Paperback Version of the original short story and the Little Golden Book based on the adaptation by Disney.

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In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving localizes the story by tying it to the ghostly sightings of Hessian soldier by many from the American Revolutionary War. Hessians were German mercenaries who fought for the British, and in Irving's tale, the Headless Horseman is said to be a decapitated Hessian whose ghost haunts the area around Sleepy Hollow (Tarrytown).

Irving's story is set in a real place, and local legends of ghosts and supernatural occurrences already existed in that Sleepy Hollow region following the years after the violent Battle of White Plains, the battle in which many, including many Hessians, were killed or missing.

The stories of the sightings of the Hessian came from citizens starting around the late-1770s were straightforward. Irving's portrayal of the headless horseman was a bit more detailed for story's sake though.

But the spectre that citizens of the time saw was very much real and not overly detailed, past being brief or semi-brief sightings. Expectedly, there are still claims of sighting in the natural (wooded) areas in parts of Sleepy Hollow and into Tarrytown.