He was named after the first American president, no doubt because was born in New York in 1773 – literally weeks after the American Revolution ended.ĭespite not being particularly interested in schooling, Irving became America’s first celebrity writer. He’s been called The Father of American Literature. But Washington Irving is much more influential on American literature than that. We all know him as the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Who was Washington Irving? A portrait of Washington Irving But if we look deep into Sleepy Hollow, we will see how it mixes all we love about gothic horror and ghosts.Īnd for the ghost hunters and paranormal investigators here today, you can all appreciate the many levels of superstition and scepticism shown by the visitors and inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow.īefore going into the story, it’s important we understand about Washington Irving’s background.
We probably don’t see Washington Irving in the same way as we do those great writers. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has the enduring horror/ghostly legacy only rivalled by the likes of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe. So why am I talking about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow today? Well, it is a good point – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the quintessential American ghost tale – probably the most famous.īut it was written when Washington Irving lived in Birmingham, England – so I can always find a get-out clause when I want to.
Now, you may say – you’ve just said your website only deals with UK and Irish ghosts and horror – what’s with the American ghost story? It’s with that I come to my subject – an American ghost story.
So it was with that thought – I may not have investigated as many haunted houses or done the groundwork as our beloved experts on this stage this weekend – but I have read and edited a lot of articles about UK and Irish hauntings and dark history across Britain and Ireland over the years, so some of that knowledge might have seeped into my noggin. I’ve interviewed hundreds of paranormal investigators – from local ghost hunting teams to television big shots and others interested in the field.Īnd I’d like to think that Spooky Isles has been a pretty good chronicler of spookiness in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the first decades of the 21st Century.
We’re a volunteer-run non-profit site – indeed I’ve edited all those articles hence the odd typos at times – so I’m very pleased with what we’ve achieved in 11 years. We’ve had over a million people visit our website since 2011 – and we’re currently getting about 1500 people visiting each day.
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