Something Creepy This Way Comes

With Halloween only a week away, ‘tis the season to carve pumpkins and watch something spooky. One new show that fits the bill is Sleepy Hollow, one of the US’s new autumn shows, the first episode of which was shown last week on Universal. Whilst the show isn’t directly related to the film of the same name featuring Johnny Depp, both are based off the folktale written by American author Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which narrates the story of the ill-fated Ichabod Crane and his encounter with the Headless Horseman. The story has been adapted and reinterpreted many times, but the latest version, created by two of the writers of the rebooted Star Trek films breathes fresh life into the tale by transporting it to modern times and adding a biblical twist. Here, Ichabod Crane, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War and acquaintance of a pre-presidential General George Washington, is killed after decapitating the Headless Horseman. Placed under a spell, he reawakens in the present day, to find the Horseman returned and chopping off heads left right and centre. If that’s not bad enough, it turns out the Horseman is only one of the Four Horsemen, harbingers of the Apocalypse. Ichabod is discovered by Lieutenant Abbie Mills, a police officer whose mentor, the Sheriff of the town, is one of the first victims of the Horseman. Although skeptical at first of Ichabod’s explanation of time-travel and witchcraft, Abbie has some of her own previous experiences with unexplained phenomena, and the two team up to investigate. It’s early days yet for the show, but the first episode puts it off to a promising start. One of the highlights so far is Ichabod’s attempts to familiarise himself with the differences between 1781 and the present; such as electric car windows and the ubiquity of Starbucks. And although his and Abbie’s relationship gets off to a somewhat rocky start when he politely inquires as to whether she’s been emancipated (Abbie being African-American), the pair make a good couple, with Abbie’s no-nonsense attitude balancing out Ichabod’s earnest naivety. There’s also a refreshing lack of sexual tension between the two, in spite of the best attempts of Ichabod’s hair, which handsomely blows around his face, wind-tunnel like, in every scene. With a second series already commissioned in the US, may be worth getting into. At the very least, the choice of song for the end of the pilot episode - appropriately, Johnny Cash’s The Man Comes Around - proves the show has good taste. Here’s hoping that there’s even better yet to come.

Sleepy Hollow is currently airing on the Universal Channel.