In a secluded Dutch settlement in New York, two men vie for the hand of a wealthy farmer's daughter. Ichabod Crane, the superstitious schoolmaster is one of those men. One night, when walking home from the farmer's house, Ichabod is chased by the Headless Horseman, who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head".

Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of the earliest examples of American literature