Horseman - Christina Henry

Genre: Horror | Mystery | Retelling

Release Date: Expected 28th September 2021

Publisher: Titan Books

CW: Violence, Death, Deadnaming

Everyone knows the story about what happened all those years ago in Sleepy Hollow when the Horseman arrived to chase Schoolmaster Ichabod Crane out of town. But now, it's nothing more than a myth. A scary story to keep the kids from venturing too deep in the woods and getting lost.

Ben loves the story, even re-enacts it with their best friend, even when their Grandparents Katrina and Brom insist it's nothing more than a ghost story. But when they finds the body of a headless child out in the woods, they're sure the Horseman is there, watching on. But if everyone is right and he's just a bad dream, then what other monsters are out there hiding in plain sight?

"Strange things come true in the Hollow. Everybody knows that."

It's always risky to retell a famous story, and even riskier to come up with a sequel to an iconic story - but Christina Henry has done it perfectly. Keeping the voice and feeling of the original Sleepy Hollow but with her own dark twist added in. It was wonderful revisiting familiar names like Katrina and Brom, seeing where they are now, and Ben was absolutely wonderful. Full of fire, full of curiosity, full of life.

Ben was born with a different name and now refers to himself as a young boy - knowing he is not the person he was told he was at birth. Now, fair warning, this is set in a small dutch town in a time before electricity - so the townsfolk aren't exactly understanding of people who live outside of their ideas of gender norms so could definitely be uncomfortable for some readers.

I read this entire thing in one session, definitely keeping the lights on the whole time, and was suspended in a land of magic and wonder. You know how the words 'epic' and 'awesome' have been overused and kind of lost their meaning - those words surely apply to this story. Chilling, fast-paced and engrossing.

Now, there was quite a lot of monologuing through this story - a little bit too much telling and not enough showing - but when Henry does show you something you're not going to forget it. Every time we take a bloody, mysterious step through the story it's fully visceral and so memorable.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted an advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

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