The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

By: Washington Irving

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

In the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane arrives to educate the children of the region. This lanky schoolmaster from Connecticut fancies the idea of marrying the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, the 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy farmer, but there is a problem with his plan. Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt, the town rowdy, has already set his heart on marrying her.

This romantic rivalry climaxes one autumn night with the appearance of the legendary Headless Horseman, allegedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who lost his head to a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. Every night he rides through the woods to the scene of the battle in search of his head.

Since this story’s first appearance in 1820, generations of readers, young and old, have thrilled to the headless horseman galloping through the haunted woods of Sleepy Hollow. The rollicking tale of Ichabod Crane and his ill-fated courtship of Katrina Van Tassel has become a classic ghost story.

Public Domain (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[This story’s] unprecedented success allowed Irving to devote himself to a career as a professional author.” ( Encyclopedia of Literature)

Excellent story, beautifully told

Short but a worthwhile listen of a timeless classic. Beautifully written and so far one of my favourite narrations

Excellent reading!

The reader of this version is perfectly animated in his voice for this story. Listened with my kids and it was great!

Classic Halloween

Fun to listen to a fun classic Halloween story. I’ve loved the narrator in other stories so this was great.

Loved it

I've never read the book before and listened to the audiobook because of recommendation. Loved it, its going to be a Halloween tradition moving forward.

It was fine.

Okay, I get the story is over 200 years old and the narrator was great, but dear god Ichabod is an unlikable character and the story boils down to 'supersticious man is scared by man on horse'. It was fine! I can tick it off my list of classics to read at least.