Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking.

Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods? 

Christina Henry books are always a treat, and this new release is another book that was perfect for my October spooky mood.

Horseman revisit the tale of the Headless Horseman, but with plenty of twists. While in the original legend, Brom Bones was a bully and somewhat of a villain, here in Horseman, he’s main character Ben’s beloved grandfather. Brom is big and self-assured, a leader within the town, a successful farmer, with an amazing laugh, and the person Ben turns to for love, understanding, and reassurance above all others.

Brom is happily married to Katrina, and theirs is a love match that often makes Ben blush after stumbling across one of their embraces or loving looks.

As the story starts, Ben stumbles upon a corpse in the woods — a boy from town who’s been left gruesomely dismembered, missing his head and hands. Soon after, Ben discovers a sheep in similar condition. Who — or what — is stalking Sleepy Hollow? Is it an evil spirit? Is it human wrongdoing? How does the legendary Horseman of Sleepy Hollow’s past fit into this? And what are those scary voices that Ben hears in the woods?

Without giving anything else away, I’ll just say that I loved this book! There’s gore and terrifying interludes, but most of all, the story itself is fast-paced and immediately immersive, and I loved the characters. The author does an amazing job of weaving in the classic Legend of Sleep Hollow, providing new context for the story and new explanations of its events, but also bringing the key characters forward into the next generation.

Brom is a fabulous character, hard-edged when threatened, but absolutely lovable and lovely when it comes to his wife and grandchild. Katrina, as seen through Ben’s eyes, initially comes across as mean and restrictive, but as the book progresses, we (and Ben) get to know her better and see that all is not as it initially seems. And Ben! Well, I encourage everyone to read Horseman and get acquainted with Ben on your own, but Ben is a brave but vulnerable character who struggles not just with the strange and scary happenings within Sleepy Hollow, but must also come to terms with family history, finding one’s place in a world that has strict expectations and limits of what’s acceptable, and embracing one’s true identity and committing to setting a path of one’s own.

Horseman is a terrific read at any time, but particularly if you’re looking for eerie, spooky, haunting reads in the weeks before Halloween. Highly recommended!