By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Memorably filmed by Tim Burton in a 1999 adaptation that changed a number of details of Irving’s original story, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ is, along with ‘Rip Van Winkle’ (which we have analysed here), Irving’s best-known work. First published in 1820, the story is variously regarded as a Gothic tale and a modern folk story about the early history of the United States of America.