Do you believe the Headless Horseman is real or only a legend?

[Buzz Rules]

Do you believe the Headless Horseman is real or only a legend? For those who do not know, Sleepy Hollow, NY is a real place and the legend is very special to its residents. My family always have a fun debate whether the ghost himself is real or not. The Hessian was killed in the Battle of White Plains for those who wanted to know. Thoughts?

 

[chickapin parterre]

....only if you believe that mysterious attic lodger Holgrave is writing a history of the man who lost his head...when Holgrave talent is that of being a daguerreotypist ...then I would believe....of course I believe that a split is the hardest shot of all sport

 

[NannyBeBe]

There is no such thing as ghosts.

 

[Mysterian]

Totally fake, but it's a great story.

I thought of the Headless Horseman when spotting the Little House on the Prairie thread, since he appeared in one episode.

Not as freaky as the strange, anachronistic masked attacker that was stalking people on Little House, episode "Sylvia". THAT was disturbing.

 

[Skywalker3]

I’ve been terrified of the Headless Horseman stories since seeing the Disney cartoon and reading the story as a kid . Countless nightmares . I always thought it was a real story. Probably not , but hard to shake that childhood fear. Such a creepy story.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I’ve been terrified of the Headless Horseman stories since seeing the Disney cartoon and reading the story as a kid . Countless nightmares . I always thought it was a real story. Probably not , but hard to shake that childhood fear. Such a creepy story.

 

[amcnj]

When I was in fifth grade (way before North Tarrytown became known as Sleepy Hollow), our field trip was to see Washington Irving’s home in Tarrytown. I kept my eyes peeled, but my attempt to see the headless horseman was unsuccessful. But I am willing to give it another try. Maybe this Halloween would be a good day to try again!

 

[NYCgrrl]

My sister lives near Sleepy Hollow and the only beings she worries about are raccoons in the garage...
Great place to visit during October along with Jack o‘Lantern Blaze further up the road.

I think Washington Irving had a great imagination and writing style.

 

[RogueX]

We got a chance to go on the cemetery tour last year when staying in Tarrytown. When checking in for the tour, someone noticed our tickets said Bromm on it and joked about us being connected to Brom Bones.

 

[sjberg79]

My six year old is convinced he is real because of discovering the cartoon on Disney+ (he is also obsessed with Mr. Toad, an added bonus from that). Shortly after we watched that I had him start reading the Judy Blume series from "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing". "Tales" is the 1st one, "Sheila the Great" is the second and my son was delighted that it was set in Tarrytown and mentioned the Headless Horseman in there. Of course, now he wants to go there. We are on the other side of the state so it's something we could do but with covid and all, I told him let's shoot for next year. I'm not so sure it's a real story but I don't know anything about it aside from the Disney cartoon. It's spooky, I'll give it that!

 

[disneychrista]

I don't think it is a legend or real but simply a story, a work of fiction.

 

[Diznygrl]

It's just a story. A good story, but I don't believe in supernatural stuff.

Besides, everyone knows that it was really just Brom Bones taking advantage of Ichabod's superstitious nature by dressing up as the Horseman to scare Ichabod out of town (and thus, away from Katrina).

 

[Buzz Rules]

It's just a story. A good story, but I don't believe in supernatural stuff.

Besides, everyone knows that it was really just Brom Bones taking advantage of Ichabod's superstitious nature by dressing up as the Horseman to scare Ichabod out of town (and thus, away from Katrina).

But do we really.......

 

[Diznygrl]

But do we really.......

Truthfully, the fact that the story's ending is left open to the reader's own interpretation is one of the things I like most about it. But I'm a skeptic at heart.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Next, on Ancient Aliens. Did space aliens visit Sleepy Hollow? We have exclusively what THEY don't want you to hear.

We go now to Dr. Smith. Professor of geology at Quack University.



Clearly we see in all these drawings that he has a pumpkin for a head. Therefore we must admit that he had a pumpkin for a head. And once we have established he hand a pumpkin for a head we then must acknowledge it is beyond our understanding as to how such a creature existed. And because it is beyond us, we then must admit it was a superior technology to anything we've seen and therefore conclude it was indeed the work of space aliens. When will mainstream history and science admit the truth?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Next, on Ancient Aliens. Did space aliens visit Sleepy Hollow? We have exclusively what THEY don't want you to hear.

We go now to Dr. Smith. Professor of geology at Quack University.

View attachment 532767

Clearly we see in all these drawings that he has a pumpkin for a head. Therefore we must admit that he had a pumpkin for a head. And once we have established he hand a pumpkin for a head we then must acknowledge it is beyond our understanding as to how such a creature existed. And because it is beyond us, we then must admit it was a superior technology to anything we've seen and therefore conclude it was indeed the work of space aliens. When will mainstream history and science admit the truth?

You forgot to mention all the linear clues in the photo that obviously reference the runways Ancient Aliens left to land near different civilizations throughout the world

 

[SirDuff]

I don't think it is a legend or real but simply a story, a work of fiction.

What is a legend if is not a story or work of fiction?

 

[Buzz Rules]

What is a legend if is not a story or work of fiction?

A legend is a story that usually has some basis of truth. In this case we know several things. A real Hessian soldier riding on horseback had his head taken off by a cannon ball in the Battle of White Plains October 28, 1776. The Hessian soldier was owed a life debt by the Van Tassel family after he originally saved one of their infant children from death during a fire that his regiment started by lighting their house on fire. This happened before the battle. After he died in battle, the family gave the Hessian a proper burial in the poor's section of the real cemetery. His ghost supposedly started to appear often around midnight especially around the anniversary of the battle. The Hessian himself would be from either Grenadier Regiment von Rahl or Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen since those were the German troops who fought in the battle. John Andre also is rumored to haunt the cemetery as well. I wish we could identify the Hessian soldier though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Plains

 

[SirDuff]

A legend is a story that usually has some basis of truth.

Fair enough, I guess I never really thought abut that distinction.

 

[AppleDumpling]

When I was in fifth grade (way before North Tarrytown became known as Sleepy Hollow), our field trip was to see Washington Irving’s home in Tarrytown. I kept my eyes peeled, but my attempt to see the headless horseman was unsuccessful. But I am willing to give it another try. Maybe this Halloween would be a good day to try again!

I went on that field trip too! Also in fifth grade (or maybe fourth?), back in the 70’s. We toured the General Motors plant in Tarrytown on the same day.

I don’t recall much of the details or the history behind the legend, but I think of it as gothic literature, in a style similar to that of Edgar Allan Poe. I remember also reading the story of Rip Van Winkle, and there’s a bridge named for him in the Catskills, which I’ve driven over numerous times.

Great place to visit during October along with Jack o‘Lantern Blaze further up the road.

Yes, I’ve been to the Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor; it’s amazing!