Considered to be one of America's first ghost stories, the 1820 short story follows a schoolteacher who is competing against a farmer for a woman's hand. One night, he is haunted by the ghost of a headless horseman. Inspired by folk stories he'd heard when traveling abroad, Washington Irving incorporated themes of superstition and greed into the short story. The legend has been celebrated for 200 years, and every Halloween, the headless horseman can be seen in the village of Sleepy Hollow.