Suspense In Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow

The director Tim Burton created his own vision on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hallow was a movie about a detective named Ichabod Crane who has his own vision on how crimes can be solved. He is sent to a small, dreary town called Sleepy Hollow, to solve the

“In the dark shadow of the grove… [Ichabod] beheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering...up in the gloom...some gigantic monster” and “summoning up, [from his trembling body] a show of courage...he demanded in stammering accents- ‘Who are you?’”. In the short story, the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving, tells the adventures of a schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, in the haunted town of Sleepy Hollow. There, he pursues the local beauty, Katrina van Tassel, competing with the town’s rowdy prankster, Brom Bones. As the plot intensifies, Ichabod’s superstition eventually leads to his downfall when he is chased by the legendary ghost of the Headless Horseman in a terrifying and vivid scene after a party at Katrina’s house. The next day, Ichabod has disappeared, his fate unknown. Throughout the story, Irving creates suspense with the use of imagery to build up a frightening scene in the reader’s mind and ambiguity to make them anxious as they feel a sense of mysteriousness as to what really happened.

“The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head.” Although the movie Sleepy Hollow is based upon the book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there are also distinctions which allow each to tell their own tale. Washington Irving’s short story inspired Tim Burton’s film but did not limit it. The foundations of the two are much the same but their story lines unfold diversely. Some of the similarities include the setting, characters, and plot points. Two of the many contradicting ideas are the character of Ichabod Crane and the conclusions. The similarities and differences of both accounts can be stated plainly

The film Sleepy Hollow directed by Tim Burton, centres around a detective who is sent from the city to a small country town to investigate a series of bizarre murders. While he is in town he has to deal with love, past issues and also discover why the horseman has returned from the dead to kill townspeople. The story is based around the battle of good and evil with Ichabod Crane being good as he believes in finding the truth in everything and the Horseman being evil personified as he will not stop killing. Burton displays the constant battle between good and evil throughout the film through the characterization of Ichabod Crane and the Hessian. Burton also uses settings to show what each thing represents like the forest is the gateway to hell

Many connections to famous books or movies can be made to the Headless Horseman or the "Heissan" as he is referred to many times in the original "Sleepy Hollow". The Headless Horseman has a few key traits: engimatic, supernatural, and terror raising/feared. Only a few have ever come face to face with the Horseman, the nemesis of Ichabod Crane (main character) Brom Van Brunt has a supposed run in with the horseman and lives to tell the tale, while the village elders go off of stories. When his name is spoken townsfolk quiver at the stories and terror brought about by the mistery of the supernatural. This horseman is no ordinary horseman, he frightens the whole town, patrolling the church grounds where he is supposedly buried, he makes quick work of anyone who dares go near.

Because of his constant use of imagery, Poe is able to create suspense in his writing. An excerpt from Edgar Poe’s story The Tell-Tale Heart states, “It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe” (Poe 82). In the story, Poe uses descriptive words which can make the reader experience what is happening. “…the low, stifled sound…” gives the reader an inclination that something bad is about to happen. A part of Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart says, “It was a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath—and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased” (Poe 84). Yet again, Poe has created a sense of suspense by using words one would be able to experience. “A low, dull, quick sound” is imaginable as well as a little frightening to the reader. Poe uses imagery in his stories to create suspense by involving the reader in his writing.

Over time, a change has occurred from the typical horror story to a violent and bloody legend. The original short story " The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow" is an example of a simple, yet mysterious fable in which Ichabod Crane acts as the protagonist. Ichabod becomes the victim of the feared headless horseman after believing the superstitious tales of this spirit preying in the night. The film that is supposedly based upon the tale provides a deceiving, yet compelling title of Sleepy Hollow, as one might assume that the film is a reenactment of the short story. The film and original tale differ in that the film has blood, gore and controversy while the story depicts a

Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was adapted into a movie titled “Sleepy Hollow” directed by Tim Burton nearly two centuries after the original publication. When the story was adapted as a film, several extensive changes were made. A short story easily read in one sitting was turned into a nearly two-hour thriller, mystery, and horror movie by incorporating new details and modifying the original version of the story. The short story relates the failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel by Ichabod Crane. His courtship is cut short by the classic romance antagonist-the bigger, stronger, and better looking Broom Bones. Ichabod wishes to marry Katrina because of her beauty but also because of the wealthy inheritance

During the film Steve Spielberg uses music, a mysterious shark and camera techniques such as simultaneous track and zoom, long shot, close up shots and medium shots to build suspense, tension and scare the audience.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is short story of speculative fiction written by Washington Irving, published in 1820. It follows the journey of Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones in their attempt to win over Katrina Van Tassel. Many adaptions have been made of Irving’s original story with one of the most known being “Sleepy Hollow” a 1999 American horror film directed by Tim Burton. The movie follows a different but similar plot to the original story with the murders of the headless horseman being the main focus of the movie. In both versions it can be clearly seen how the setting has a huge impact on all aspects of the book and film particularly the themes, values and characterisation.

Could anybody ask for a better name then Sleepy Hollow for this town. All the people of the town are sleepy and inactive. There is also a hollow along the Hudson River which is right up close to the town. In this short story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving captures the setting well through description, how it affects the characters, and the way it fits with gothic attributes of this time.

This legend is then brought to life when Brom Bones, a man of the town, plays a trick on the traveling teacher Ichabod Crane by disguising himself as the headless horseman and chasing after Crane. Irving demonstrates the American Romantic’s positive outlook on legends by incorporating it into his story. This is especially true with the myths, legend and folk culture since Ichabod would “listen to their marvelous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges and haunted houses, and particularly of the headless horseman” (Irving “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). This quote further shows the connection to American Romanticism by including Ichabod’s interest in the mystical beings that the housewives he speaks to

Ichabod Crane’s appetite for the finer things in life and his fascination with superstitions brought him to the town of Sleepy Hollow but ultimately became the source of his departure and the focus of one of the towns ghost stories that he so enjoyed sharing in.

Unlike “The Tell-Tale Heart”, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ plot is built around the main theme of superstition. Ichabod tends to be horrified and terrified with the Headless horseman stories. ‘Irving depicts a strong, controversial understanding between the supernatural superstitions the townspeople believed and the natural Sleepy Hollow setting ‘(Hoffman, 425). Despite the story describing in details the natural setting such as trees and birds of the area, there is also a vibrant understanding of privileging supernatural ideas. For instance, Irving believes that it is simply Brom Bones in disguise when finally, the headless horseman appeared.

Sleepy Hollow is a gothic horror film directed by Tim Burton in 1999. It tells the story of when Ichabod Crane is sent to the isolated town of Sleepy Hollow to solve the mystery of the Headless Horseman. The isolated gloomy setting for example, when Ichabod Crane enters the town, the film techniques such as music and lighting such as when the Headless Horseman appears combined with characters that have supernatural powers including Catrina and Lady Van Tassel reinforces the idea that Sleepy Hollow is a gothic horror film.