- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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Americans love folklore, but what should we make of the eerie Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow?
Here's a folk-adaptation of the Horseman being engaged by an imaginative and somewhat eccentric man near a bridge by Hatfield Cemetery in West Virginia.
What do you think?
====
A quiet bridge next to the Hatfield Cemetery was the location of a series of strange sightings of the Headless Horseman, reported in the autumn of 2017, just after a man from West Virginia mysteriously disappeared. The man who disappeared, an eccentric who went only by the name 'Allan,' was a local photojournalist who took up archery and was a local babysitter and youth-tutor, offering daycare and educational services for small fees.
Allan was preparing a Gaelic festival in Hatfield that autumn, with some of his pupils in authentic costumes preparing to do authentic Irish folk-dances in front of an autumn-festive harvest-celebratory Hatfield audience of parents and townsfolk. Allan was very excited about this event, which he was coordinating himself. Allan even purchased a new vintage bow-and-arrow set which he intended to bring to the culture-event dressed as a Gaelic archer.
According to the reports by townsfolk, Allan decided to take a detour just two days before the Gaelic celebration-event with his bow-and-arrow. Apparently, Allan was drinking and felt festive and spiritual and decided to walk across the bridge by Hatfield Cemetery that night with his bow-and-arrow, determined to find some evidence of a spectre or ghost to 'cheer' on his upcoming Gaelic youth-festival. That's the night Allan simply disappeared. Searchers only found one of his arrows...stained in blood.
Allan was considered a very 'modern man.' He loved the Internet and online blogs and online journalism and modernized folk-tales, such as Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Allan collected Internet artworks of 'modernized ancient gods/avatars' such as Medusa and Leviathan. Allan even dressed up like a 'vigilante' one day and took a photo of himself to pair next to a portrait of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow he found on the Internet. Allan wanted to convey the notion that modern networks were conducive to all kinds of folkloric festivity, since technology never 'ruined' the human fascination with the supernatural. Hatfield townsfolk believe Allan was killed by the spirit of the Headless Horseman by the bridge across Hatfield Cemetery, since the Horseman didn't want Allan blogging about Sleepy Hollow.
A Hatfield artist made a figurative rendering of the blood-stained arrow of Allan's that was found in Hatfield Cemetery, even though Allan himself was nowhere to be found. The artist depicted the arrow as figuratively 'piercing' the spirit of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow and gushing the metaphysical blood of the Horseman and the actual blood of Allan. The artist wanted to convey the 'new legend' that Allan and Horseman had somehow...destroyed each other.
This same artist also made a figurative rendering of Allan engaging with the Horseman in Hatfield Cemetery with his 'vintage/authentic' newly-purchased bow-and-arrow (something be bought on eBay!) and the same head-gear Allan wore in his vigilante pose/costume paired by the Horseman. Since Headless Horseman was thought to be the 'demonic ghost' of an angered Hessian horse-soldier who was beheaded by an errant cannonball, the artist depicted Allan in his head-gear but also in a Hessian-like costume/outfit. Hatfield townsfolk appreciated these renderings but many considered the wisdom of leaving this eerie incident alone and forgetting the mystery altogether...the strange disappearance of the imaginative 'Allan.'
GOD: Are you a fan of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow?
SATAN: I think I prefer this Hatfield legend about Allan and the Horseman.
GOD: Maybe Allan is the Horseman's newest 'victim.'
SATAN: The Horseman tends to make his victims 'legends.'
GOD: It's a tragic brand of popularity, no?
SATAN: Indeed! I wonder if the artist's rendering of Allan's bloody arrow was accurate.
GOD: Perhaps Allan and the Horseman 'expelled' each other somehow...to somewhere!
SATAN: Maybe Allan chose to simply disappear that night, opting for some folkloric gossip.
GOD: I doubt Allan would have just ditched his intricately-planned Gaelic youth-festival.
SATAN: Yes, 'Allan's kids' (as they're known in Hatfield now) were dismayed...
GOD: This goes to show you that gossip and folklore should not create deadly curiosity.
SATAN: Here's a spin on the tale --- what if Allan was actually the ghost of the Horseman?
GOD: What? You mean to say the Horseman appeared as a 'normal man' with an arrow?
SATAN: Well, that sounds far-fetched, but it's less ominous than the one we're entreating.
GOD: Notions of an 'Ichabod Crane' being targeted/engaged by the Horseman are spooky.
SATAN: I think that's because the character of Ichabod Crane represents 'nerdy erudition.'
GOD: Maybe Americans are naturally drawn to 'odd tales.'
SATAN: They sure love media-scandals (e.g., Fisher-Buttafuoco, Trump sex-scandals, etc.).
GOD: Let's go watch Urban Legend on Netflix!
SATAN: I'm with you...
====
Here's a folk-adaptation of the Horseman being engaged by an imaginative and somewhat eccentric man near a bridge by Hatfield Cemetery in West Virginia.
What do you think?
====
A quiet bridge next to the Hatfield Cemetery was the location of a series of strange sightings of the Headless Horseman, reported in the autumn of 2017, just after a man from West Virginia mysteriously disappeared. The man who disappeared, an eccentric who went only by the name 'Allan,' was a local photojournalist who took up archery and was a local babysitter and youth-tutor, offering daycare and educational services for small fees.
Allan was preparing a Gaelic festival in Hatfield that autumn, with some of his pupils in authentic costumes preparing to do authentic Irish folk-dances in front of an autumn-festive harvest-celebratory Hatfield audience of parents and townsfolk. Allan was very excited about this event, which he was coordinating himself. Allan even purchased a new vintage bow-and-arrow set which he intended to bring to the culture-event dressed as a Gaelic archer.
According to the reports by townsfolk, Allan decided to take a detour just two days before the Gaelic celebration-event with his bow-and-arrow. Apparently, Allan was drinking and felt festive and spiritual and decided to walk across the bridge by Hatfield Cemetery that night with his bow-and-arrow, determined to find some evidence of a spectre or ghost to 'cheer' on his upcoming Gaelic youth-festival. That's the night Allan simply disappeared. Searchers only found one of his arrows...stained in blood.
Allan was considered a very 'modern man.' He loved the Internet and online blogs and online journalism and modernized folk-tales, such as Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Allan collected Internet artworks of 'modernized ancient gods/avatars' such as Medusa and Leviathan. Allan even dressed up like a 'vigilante' one day and took a photo of himself to pair next to a portrait of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow he found on the Internet. Allan wanted to convey the notion that modern networks were conducive to all kinds of folkloric festivity, since technology never 'ruined' the human fascination with the supernatural. Hatfield townsfolk believe Allan was killed by the spirit of the Headless Horseman by the bridge across Hatfield Cemetery, since the Horseman didn't want Allan blogging about Sleepy Hollow.
A Hatfield artist made a figurative rendering of the blood-stained arrow of Allan's that was found in Hatfield Cemetery, even though Allan himself was nowhere to be found. The artist depicted the arrow as figuratively 'piercing' the spirit of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow and gushing the metaphysical blood of the Horseman and the actual blood of Allan. The artist wanted to convey the 'new legend' that Allan and Horseman had somehow...destroyed each other.
This same artist also made a figurative rendering of Allan engaging with the Horseman in Hatfield Cemetery with his 'vintage/authentic' newly-purchased bow-and-arrow (something be bought on eBay!) and the same head-gear Allan wore in his vigilante pose/costume paired by the Horseman. Since Headless Horseman was thought to be the 'demonic ghost' of an angered Hessian horse-soldier who was beheaded by an errant cannonball, the artist depicted Allan in his head-gear but also in a Hessian-like costume/outfit. Hatfield townsfolk appreciated these renderings but many considered the wisdom of leaving this eerie incident alone and forgetting the mystery altogether...the strange disappearance of the imaginative 'Allan.'
GOD: Are you a fan of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow?
SATAN: I think I prefer this Hatfield legend about Allan and the Horseman.
GOD: Maybe Allan is the Horseman's newest 'victim.'
SATAN: The Horseman tends to make his victims 'legends.'
GOD: It's a tragic brand of popularity, no?
SATAN: Indeed! I wonder if the artist's rendering of Allan's bloody arrow was accurate.
GOD: Perhaps Allan and the Horseman 'expelled' each other somehow...to somewhere!
SATAN: Maybe Allan chose to simply disappear that night, opting for some folkloric gossip.
GOD: I doubt Allan would have just ditched his intricately-planned Gaelic youth-festival.
SATAN: Yes, 'Allan's kids' (as they're known in Hatfield now) were dismayed...
GOD: This goes to show you that gossip and folklore should not create deadly curiosity.
SATAN: Here's a spin on the tale --- what if Allan was actually the ghost of the Horseman?
GOD: What? You mean to say the Horseman appeared as a 'normal man' with an arrow?
SATAN: Well, that sounds far-fetched, but it's less ominous than the one we're entreating.
GOD: Notions of an 'Ichabod Crane' being targeted/engaged by the Horseman are spooky.
SATAN: I think that's because the character of Ichabod Crane represents 'nerdy erudition.'
GOD: Maybe Americans are naturally drawn to 'odd tales.'
SATAN: They sure love media-scandals (e.g., Fisher-Buttafuoco, Trump sex-scandals, etc.).
GOD: Let's go watch Urban Legend on Netflix!
SATAN: I'm with you...
====
