In the shadowy glens of upstate New York, where mist coils around ancient trees and whispers of the supernatural drift through the air, Washington Irving planted the seeds of American gothic fiction. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published in 1820, isn’t just a ghost story—it’s a cultural artifact, a satire, and a mythic blueprint for generations of storytellers. The Tale at a Glance Set in the bewitched village of Sleepy Hollow near Tarrytown, the story follows Ichabod Crane