The Return of Sleepy Hollow

So finally after a three-week hiatus, and only five episodes into a new series, Sleepy Hollow returned to its usual Monday night time slot. As a viewer, I can only wonder why there was a break so soon, especially with the Halloween holiday. A marketing ploy perhaps to see what viewer retention is like after a few weeks away from airtime?

In any event, in this episode Abbie has a vision where she encounters the Headless Horseman and Katrina, Ichabod’s wife. Katrina warns Abbie that Ichabod has been taken hostage and she has until nightfall to rescue him. Desperate for help, she turns to her sister Jenny for advice to find Sin Eater who apparently has the capability to sever the blood tie between Ichabod and the Headless Horseman. In this episode two important things are revealed: one, how Ichabod and Katrina met and two, that Abbie does have feelings for Ichabod after all. In the last few minutes Ichabod is freed from the curse, but the Headless Horseman has found where Ichabod was buried and is now on the hunt for revenge.

As the commercials say, “don’t lose your head.” I’m sure we’re in for a good time when it comes to new episodes and content.

The 7 Deadly Sins

With Sleepy Hollow being a show filled with evil and demonic creatures, we as viewers have already seen a fair share of sins being committed. With that in mind, the 7 Deadly Sins are presented below with a brief description of each. Without a doubt, wrath has been a consistent sin throughout the show and it shows no signs of stopping as the Headless Horseman is determined to let all hell break loose in Sleepy Hollow.

Sleepy Hollow's The Headless Horseman

Pride- extreme belief in one’s own abilities, which is also believed to be the sin from which the other six stem from

Envy- the desire for others’ abilities, situations, talents, etc.

Wrath- manifests itself in those who choose fury over love

Sloth- sheer laziness and avoidance of physical labor

Greed- the deep desire for material objects and/or gain

Gluttony- excessive desire to eat more than needed

Lust- excessive craving for bodily pleasures

Bowing Down to Evil

In a previous post, character motivations and goals were very briefly discussed. What was not mentioned though, was the motivation behind Officer Andy Brooks. In the very first episode he succumbs to evil and sides with the Headless Horseman, however, he didn’t put up much of a fight. The writers haven’t provided much background on Andy yet, but one would think that he has a girlfriend, wife and/or kids that he is protecting. Or possibly, he might just be protecting himself and that’s why he is now following orders from the Headless Horseman as well as the demon, Moloch.

Officer Andy Brooks

It’s curious that Andy hasn’t been in the last episode or two though and I wonder what the writers of Sleepy Hollow have up their sleeves for the episodes to come. Naturally, the viewers will learn more about Andy and his past and will gain more insight into his future too. Will he end up so far into evils that there is no coming back, or will he have the chance to be redeemed after all? Only time can tell on this.

In my second post I had mentioned how creative liberties have been taken when it comes to retelling Washington’s tale. Well, this YouTube video gives a Disney-fied short film, complete with cartoon characters and singing. This is truly a far cry from Tim Burton’s 1999 film version, which, genuine to his typical productions, is on the darker, weirder side of the spectrum.

The Town of Sleepy Hollow, New York

As a town, Sleepy Hollow can be found in Westchester County, approximately 25 miles north of New York City. Located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, it was originally named North Tarrytown, but was renamed Sleepy Hollow after a residential vote to honor Washington Irving’s piece. Irving visited the community as a young boy and after setting The Legend of Sleepy Hollow here and adding ghost stories he heard, the town gained worldwide recognition.

For centuries, people visited the quiet town to get a glimpse into Irving’s work. This particular time of year, with the upcoming Halloween holiday, people all over gather to hear the history and ghost stories of the town’s history. The Sleepy Hollow TV show has led to an even greater increase in tourism to Sleepy Hollow, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The town hosts a variety of entertainment including graveyard tours, gothic mansions, live music and shows, haunted hayrides and of course the retelling of Washington Irving’s famous tale.

In Sleepy Hollow there hasn’t been much showing the town, or any of the famous landmarks within the story (i.e., the bridge, graveyard, etc) however, the writers do make it clear to viewers when the time is focused on the present and when it is dealing with the past by changing the saturation of the film. This effect is also used to distinguish between reality and the other worldly realms to ground the viewer as to where the characters are in time.

Sleepy Hollow, New York has it’s own website dedicated to the town history and latest news.

To check out walking tours check out the tourist guide to visiting Sleepy Hollow.

Halloween: A History of Ghoulish Proportions

Since The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is based on ghost stories and legends of the past, it is only fitting that Fox aired its new show during the fall. Having been on a two-week hiatus, there will not be a Halloween special as with the case of most shows, but we can expect more suspense with next week’s new episode. In the next post I will dive more into the history of the town of Sleepy Hollow, but given today’s holiday, it is only appropriate to provide a bit of history on it.

Historical Facts about Halloween

• Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve
• The holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 
• Its origins go back to the ancient Celtic festival Samhain, celebrating the end of the harvest season
• They believed that on this day the boundaries between the living and dead coincided and that the dead would come back to life and spread illness and/or damage crops
• To avoid running into ghosts when leaving homes, people would wear masks so they would go unrecognized
• Then on Halloween night, people would leave food bowls outside to please the ghosts and prevent them from entering homes
• The concept of trick-or-treating dates back to the Middle Ages; the saying would be to play a trick on the homeowner if they did not provide any treat
• Flash forward to Halloween today and Americans alone spend an estimated $6 billion annually on the holiday
• The costumes have also undoubtedly gotten more risqué throughout the years as well, and nowadays, don’t leave much to the imagination

The history of Halloween has been referenced from this website, which goes more in depth. 

Typical Halloween symbols include bats, black cats, jack-o-lanterns, spiders and witches.

Bats: commonly seen at bonfires due to the attraction of insects

Black cats: believed to be a facilitator to other worlds/realms

Jack-O-Lanterns: used to provide light for those trick-or-treaters

Spiders: like black cats, they were thought to have supernatural abilities

Witches: since Halloween marks the time when the wall between living and dead is lowest and witches are devoted to the supernatural, it’s only fitting they’re a traditional symbol of Halloween

Themes in Sleepy Hollow

Throughout The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as well as its television counterpart, run several important themes.

The first is the use of imagination. In Washington Irving’s version, Ichabod lets his imagination run wild after hearing the stories of ghosts and legends after the party at the Van Tassels’. This ultimately leads to his downfall because he convinces himself that all of it is real, including the headless horseman. In this case, imagination because too much of a good thing, due to the fact that Ichabod is then in his own world and not reality.

In Fox’s TV version, Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod comes from the Revolutionary War era to present day and everything that is going on is indeed real and not just in his imagination. However as a result of time warp, so to speak, everyone else has to use his or her imagination and realize that it is much more than that.

The second big theme is the belief in superstition. This is similar to imagination, because once again superstitious people get inside their own heads and the mind can play tricks and make people see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, etc. When going through a haunted house, for example, most people will think about who or what will jump out and scare them and then their senses will become heightened in hesitation/expectation of what’s to come.

Love is also apparent, as seen romantically between Ichabod and Katrina and sisterly love between Abbie and Jenny. There also seems to be a growing like and possibly love, between Abbie and Ichabod as they work and get to know each other more. Towards the end of episode five, Abbie says something like how Ichabod belongs in present day Sleepy Hollow and it makes one wonder whether the script will call for the two of them to fall in love as time goes on.

Revenge is another powerful theme and is obvious through the Headless Horseman and the demons and other evils seen so far. Revenge will only escalate with the appearance of the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse and wicked spells and creatures they bring with them.

On the lighter side of everything though, it turns out that Hollywood does have a lighter side as well. Elementary and Sleepy Hollow writers started a Twitter “feud” which has since ended, but is still quite comical.

Character Desires & Motivation

In the second episode, Abbie says something along the lines that she is so far down the rabbit hole and just wants to go back to the way things were. Ichabod then tells her how the two must travel the journey together in order to put an end to everything. As Abbie and Ichabod face more supernatural events and creatures, they are on a constant quest to learn how to defeat the evils that have come alive within Sleepy Hollow. Below are some possible ideas for character desires and motivations; please note this is clearly not an exhaustive or detailed list.

Abbie Mills

Sleepy Hollow's Abbie & Jenny Mills

• To find a reasonable explanation for all of the events going on, even though she’s started to accept things as is
• To make things right between her and her sister, Jenny, and make up for things said and not said in the past
• To find closure with the death of her partner and mentor, Sheriff August Corbin, and find out what he knew

Jenny Mills

• Although not at first, I think she too wants to rebuild a relationship with her sister
• Being that she was the one to be put in a psych ward, it’s probable that Jenny wants to clear her name and change what people think about her

Ichabod Crane & wife, Katrina

Ichabod Crane

• Always a gentleman, Ichabod wants to help Abbie and Jenny repair their relationship
• Knowing that Katrina is stuck in “the world between worlds” he wants to free his wife from there and reunite with her
• A true believer that he has been sent to destroy the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is determined to do just that

Captain Frank Irving

Captain Frank Irving

• As police captain, he obviously wants to get to the bottom of everything going and find rationale to it all
• To figure out who exactly Ichabod Crane is, and from what era
• I can’t help but get the feeling that he does know something that hasn’t been revealed to the viewers yet. Am I alone on this?

Demons and Witches & the Sandman, oh my!

The movie and television world seems to be in love with all things supernatural. This genre has been ongoing for centuries (i.e., Frankenstein, Dracula); however, in my opinion it has really jumped in popularity in the last decade or so. The last few years in particular have spun out a number of TV shows, including, but not limited to: True Blood (HBO), American Horror Story (FX), Witches of East End (Lifetime), The Vampire Diaries (The CW) and The Walking Dead (AMC).

Serilda, witch in episode 2 of Sleepy Hollow

Throughout these shows, we are introduced to vampires, witches, demons, zombies and a number of other gruesome figures. Sleepy Hollow is no exception to all of this as three different supernatural forms come alive within the first three episodes. First, we find out the Ichabod Crane’s wife was a witch and fortunately for Ichabod and Abbie, a “good” one who has been helping them defeat the evils coming back to the town of Sleepy Hollow. In the second episode, Serilda, another witch from a different coven, appears and starts to wreak havoc. Does this remind anyone else of The Wizard of Oz with the good witch and bad witch? In the Sheriff’s recordings, there was mention of two covens, so it should be safe to expect more witches in future episodes. But since Abbie and Ichabod already know one way to destroy them, will there be more of a fight to wipe out them out?

Moloch, Sleepy Hollow's demon

The demon, whose name is Moloch, is one of the season’s main antagonists, and will be a repetitive piece to Sleepy Hollow’s storyline. Having already gained the cooperation of Officer Andy Brooks, it is possible that Moloch may employ more help from other townspeople. Was Andy chosen simply because he was there at the wrong place and the wrong time, or is there more to his character than first let on?

The Sandman, episode 3 of Sleepy Hollow

The Sandman makes his appearance in episode three and is portrayed in a rather scary nature, as opposed to the mythical folklore character that brought good dreams to children as they slept. In this episode Abbie comes face to face with the Sandman and only after she admits seeing a demon in the woods when she was younger and not being afraid anymore is he destroyed. Fear can be a powerful motivator indeed and I’ll touch on character motivations in a later post.

As the season continues, what other creatures will we come across? What is it about suspense, thrillers and the supernatural that get people so interested? Thoughts on this and what characters/creatures should be featured next? Leave your comments below.

Sleepy Hollow: Legend & Creative Liberties

As this second post is typed up, I realize three things were left out in the previous post which were revealed in the first episode. Yes, there are many more details missed, but for sake of blogging and keeping things short, I felt these were the most important.

1. Ichabod and the Headless Horseman are bound together by a spell Katrina put on them
2. When Abbie and her sister, Jenny, were younger they saw a demon and four white trees (symbolizing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in the woods
3. As Abbie goes through Sheriff August Corbin’s office, she finds his investigative files and recordings for the demon prior to his death

That said, when it comes to the words “sleepy hollow” people will instantly think of the legend, the place or both. When it comes to the legend here are a few things that should be known:

• Elements from the short story were most likely take from old German folklore
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written by Washington Irving, which was first published in 1820. Read on for more of Washington Irving’s life.



Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow cover art

• To quickly summarize: Ichabod Crane lived in the town of Sleepy Hollow as a schoolteacher who lusts after Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of the town’s wealthiest farmer, and realizes marrying her is the only way to gain her wealth. However, he must compete with Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt, for Katrina’s hand in marriage. During a party at the Van Tassel’s home, Ichabod is told ghost stories by Brom, and after Ichabod is unsuccessful at winning Katrina’s love, goes home defeated and melancholy. Allowing his mind to wander, Ichabod comes across another horse rider, but to his horror, the man is without a head. Ichabod hastily tries to escape and in the middle of it, the horseman hurls his head at him. The next day, Ichabod is nowhere to be found and the only items that remain are horse tracks, his hat and a pumpkin that has been smashed.

It has been almost a century since the first film adaption (1922,The Headless Horseman), and since then, there have been over a dozen film or television adaptations, and many more that include references to the headless horseman. Throughout the various remakes, directors and producers have taken to quite a bit of creative liberties. In Fox’s latest version, two things straight from the basic plot summary have been revised.

Firstly, there is no mention (so far) of Brom Bones and secondly, in this Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod did indeed marry Katrina. So one can only wonder, will we, as the viewers, ever get a glimpse at Brom Bones? Has Ichabod married Katrina only so she fits into the storyline? In this remake she is a witch who kept that from Ichabod. What else has she been hiding from her husband, and can she truly be trusted?

There is however, an obvious nod to the famous author, Washington Irving, the police captain’s last name. The storyline so far is also vastly different from the short story in order to create the series and one can only wonder what other elements will be taken from the original.

The New Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Fox's Sleepy Hollow TV Poster

In Fox television's latest mystery-adventure drama, Sleepy Hollow, we are presented to an old story line with a modernized twist. The opening scene introduces us to the character of Ichabod Crane who is fighting in the Revolutionary War. During the Hudson Valley, New York battle, a man’s attempt to kill Ichabod is thwarted when his head is sliced off. Ichabod loses consciousness and after regaining it, he almost gets hit by a car as he runs to the road, finding himself in current day Sleepy Hollow.

Cutting to another scene, Lieutenant Abbie Mills and Sheriff August Corbin are on assignment to check out a barn. Upon arrival, the Sheriff sees a headless figure and ends up getting decapitated. Afterwards, Abbie goes to the police station to tell the head of the precinct, Captain Frank Irving, what she just witnessed. Overhearing her story as he was brought in and interrogated, Ichabod says that he knows whom she is talking about and last time he was seen, Ichabod had cut off his head.

Despite passing a polygraph test, no one truly believes Ichabod; after all he insists he is from 1776. However, Abbie, who has seen supernatural events when she was younger, takes his word, albeit with a grain of salt. And because Captain Irving cannot explain things yet, he entrusts Abbie and Ichabod to get to the bottom of the bizarre events. Ichabod tells Abbie that the Headless Horseman has also been resurrected and that he is only one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse which together they must defeat, not only to protect those living in Sleepy Hollow, but those everywhere.

By the end of the first episode of Sleepy Hollow, we learn several key things including that officer Andy Brooks succumbs to the Headless Horseman and now follows his orders and that Ichabod’s wife, Katrina, was a witch who hid this from her husband in order to protect him, and is now trapped in a mysterious otherworld. Each episode will bring insight into Ichabod’s life, and combined with his historical knowledge and Abbie’s modern police tactics, they form a dynamic duo needed to set the world as they know it right.

 As the initial episode ends, we are left with lingering questions we can only hope will be answered as the season goes on:

• How will Abbie and Ichabod destroy all four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
• What happens if and when all evils are destroyed? Is that it for Abbie and Ichabod or will the story line perhaps end in romance?
• What will become of officer Andy Brooks? Is there any hope for him?

Fox’s website has the latest episodes you can watch online if you haven’t caught onto one of the fall’s creepiest new show.