Sleepy Hollow's Legend

     I first read Washington Irving’s, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” when I was in Elementary School.  By that time, I had already developed a passion for horror stories so I was thrilled when it was assigned to our English class a few years later.  It has always surprised me that film and television adaptations fell pitifully flat in comparison to Irving’s brilliant storytelling.  So far, Disney’s animated interpretation, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad has probably been the best of the bunch and that isn’t saying much.  Despite my affinity for Johnny Depp’s movies, I found Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow to be a disappointment. 

     That being said, news of Fox’s new television program, Sleepy Hollow filled me with both curiosity and trepidation.  In spite of my mixed emotions, I set my DVR and waited.  The pilot still left me battling the same conflicting perceptions, with trepidation edging into the lead.  It looks like I will need to set my DVR again, cross my fingers and wait for next week.  Here’s hoping Fox will finally do justice to an American Classic.  Nearly two hundred years is a long time for Ichabod to wait and it would be a true tragedy to wait two hundred more… Until then, the Headless Horseman roams the night searching for his next victim.  Sleep well.