What qualities have lead to the enduring popularity of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?

Question

The short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving has remained extremely popular. Wikipedia lists 24 film and TV adaptations including the well know Tim Burton film and, perhaps more unsurprisingly, 19 musical works inspired by the story.It is not long and available in the public domain if you want to read it. I have just done so and was surprised to find it very ordinary. The writing is charming but veers to the purple in places. And the tale itself is spun well enough but lacks anything in the way of originality. First published in 1820 it thus shares an era with titans of gothic horror such as Shelley and Poe. They too, of course, enjoy ongoing fame: but their imagination and originality would seem to warrant it.What qualities does Sleepy Hollow have that it has remained so popular alongside them?

Answer 1

Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow" is his most famous story because it must be read carefully to peel the layering. In it, we start off with this idea of who our characters are in the little village of Sleepy Hollow, New York, just north of the village Tarrytown, along the Hudson River. The little village where nothing new ever happens. I do not need to go over the characters--everyone is familiar with the story. Let's look at the beginning and the ending of this story. Ichabod starts off as a teacher from Connecticut who ends up leaving and "studied law...had been admitted to the bar, turned politician, electioneered, written fro newspapers, and finally had been made justice of the Ten Pound Court" (Stade, 190) (Stade, George. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings: Washington Irving. Barnes and Noble Books, 2006). In the character development, we have a coward who is afraid of a fly who becomes a man who stands up against all odds in the seek of justice. Now ask yourself, what events in the story drive Ichabod to become this man with a high reputation? Is it the love he has for Katrina Van Tassel? Is it the conflict he has with Brom "Bones" Van Brunt? Or, could it possibly be he has a coming-of-age in this story and realizes Katrina had done been taken from the moment he had first set eyes on her by Brom Bones? I'm leaving the questions open for you to answer. These are just a few of the variables. I've only broken it out into an equation for you to solve for yourself. This is more than just a story, but a question left unsolved.