Set in 1790, 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' tells the tale of superstitious schoolmaster Ichabod Crane who seeks the hand of Katrina, but finds he has a rival for her affections in the form of Brom Bones Van Brunt who likes to play tricks on him. Turned down by Katrina, 'heavy-hearted and crestfallen' he rides through the autumn night where he encounters a headless horseman in a classic American ghost story that is often referenced today.

It's a companion piece to 'Rip Van Winkle', which you'll also find here among many other great short stories from Washington Irving, who was a good friend of Charles Dickens and perhaps the first America author to earn a living from writing. Interestingly, Irving was the man who first popularized the name 'Gotham' for New York City and he also invented the flying sequence for Santa Claus's sleigh.