Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry – a Review

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Description:
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?

Review:

Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry is a standalone novel.  Henry has been giving us some modern & dark tales on various stories such as this one.  Horseman takes place 20 years after the headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane events, as Sleepy Hollow has been quiet. Ben Van Brunt, is the granddaughter of Brom Bones, who was part of the stories years before.  Ben (who is a girl, but acts like a boy), is 14 years old, and loves and wants to be like her grandfather; she is strong and tough; as she stands up to the boys who tease and threaten her.  One of those boys is found in the woods with his head and hands missing, and the town is in an uproar, fearing the that the magic and horror is returning. 

Ben tries to find more information about her deceased father, and learns he was killed years ago in the same manner these young boys were.  Brom and Katrina (her grandparents) warn her to stay away from the dangerous woods.  When another boy’s body is discovered in the woods, Ben finds herself being accused by the boy’s father as the one who is using magic to kill his son, and the other boy.  Ben sees the creature who is killing the boys, as well as hearing sounds of the horseman trying to come to her rescue.  Is she imagining the thumping sound of the horse, is the horseman real?

What follows in a dark and intense story, where we follow Ben when she finds herself in danger, as she is taken captive by the dead boy’s father, and she does everything to fight and survive, even if she has to kill.  But when she comes face to face to the creature, her survival is dire; can the Horseman be real and save her?  One of the amazing parts is when Ben is in the woods, I can actually feel the thumping of the hooves as she can feel the Horseman coming. To tell too much more would be spoilers, and with all that happens, you do need to read this book.

Christina Henry wrote another interesting and dark storyline, as well as being scary with chilling scenes.  If you like intense dark stories, based on old tales that are created in the modern world, you should read Horseman, which was very well written by Christina Henry.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher