Chasing the Headless Horseman
The History, Hijinks, and Halloweens of the Real Sleepy Hollow
WW Norton · Print & ebook · September 29, 2026
Tread the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow with Edgar Award-winning travel writer J.W. Ocker in this spirited exploration of haunted corners, local lore, and America's most famous ghost story.
- Who it’s for
- Readers who enjoy ghost stories, Halloween, and small-town drama
- Themes
- Sleepy Hollow local history, Tourism and preservation, Halloween culture
- Genres
- Haunted Places & Mysteries, Travel Writing, Middle Atlantic History
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For younger readers: Hollow: the Woman in White, The Halloween Tree, All the Lovely Bad Ones
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Tread the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow with Edgar Award-winning travel writer J.W. Ocker in this spirited exploration of haunted corners, local lore, and America's most famous ghost story. This immersive travelogue investigates the town that inspired Washington Irving's famous short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and dives into the storied history of the Headless Horseman’s stomping grounds.
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Within the pages you'll visit the village’s graveyard where Irving himself is buried and explore all the present-day spookiness of one of the strangest towns in the country. Blending cultural criticism and behind-the-scenes reporting, Ocker uncovers the tensions between tourism and tradition, profit and preservation, fiction and fact. With wit and curiosity, Chasing the Headless Horseman tells the story of how one small town reinvented itself as America’s Halloween capital, complete with statues, street signs, and an 18-foot-tall Headless Horseman. A must-read for anyone who loves ghost stories, Halloween, or small-town drama, Ocker’s new book does for Sleepy Hollow, New York, what his A Season with the Witch did for Salem, Massachusetts.
Where it sits
| Haunted Places & Mysteries | 94% |
|---|---|
| Middle Atlantic History | 58% |
| Travel Writing | 48% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- New England Travel
- Haunted Places & Mysteries
- Day Trips
- Authors
- J. W. Ocker
- Publisher
- WW Norton
- Published
- September 29, 2026
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Sleepy Hollow local history · Tourism and preservation · Halloween culture
- Reading lane
- New England Travel