The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
By: Washington Irving / Narrated By: Anthony Heald
Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
The BEST audio version of the classic tale!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are, like, a gaZILLion versions of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and some of those are with A-List voice talent/actors.
But Anthony Heald! I mean, if ya ever have listened to Where the Red Fern Grows (You know what? I’ve reeeeally gotta listen to that again, and I’ll get back to you with a tear-spotted review), you’ll understand why I bypassed my version with Tom Mison in favor of this one.
And Mr. Heald does NOT disappoint!
But let’s face it. This tale, very much a wonderful Halloween Listen, is very, very short. Almost too short. It ends so abruptly that I, who fancy a Brandon Sanderson 45+ hour listen every now and again, was a bit crestfallen when we came to the: Audible hopes you’ve enjoyed this program part. Sad, I was!
Still, what’s not to love? We have little Tarry Town, New York in the spooky ol’ 1800s; we have the school teacher Ichabod Crane who is absolutely smitten with the coy Katrina Van Tassel; and finally we have her other suitor, “Brom Bones" Van Brunt, a rowdy testosterone-ridden big galoot if ever there was one.
And yessssss, we also have The Headless Horseman, a rider of the night who’s rumored to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper who up and lost his head via cannonball during the Revolutionary War.
There’s a dance! There’s flirting! There are words!
There’s Ichabod’s wild ride in the night! And then…!
There’s the end. Seriously, that’s it.
I remember loving the animated Disney version of this when I was a kid, but at this point in my life, I must admit that I can’t quite remember if there was more meat to that version or not.
Still, Anthony Heald’s delivery is pitch-perfect, captures the atmosphere of the early 19-century, captures the fears and hysterias of a superstitious bunch of townfolk. He makes things slow and spooooooky, and he seems to savor each and every word in every well-crafted, albeit, short sentence.
Will you be working on your (Or your child’s) costume this Halloween with, say, just over an hour of free time, desperate for a fun listen? DO treat yourself to this version of the legend of what happened to Ichabod Crane on the night he met Fate.
And who knows? Did he…? Did he…?
Did he… meet something else?!?
Yessss: Cue demonic laughter!!!
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