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.