Sleepy Hollow follows Ichabod Crane, a Revolutionary War soldier awoken two centuries later, as he teams up with cop Abbie Mills to stop the apocalypse. The series blends historical revisionism, American folklore, and supernatural mysteries, from Headless Horsemen to underworld adventures. Through their thrilling investigations, Ichabod and Abbie navigate modern life, ancient secrets, and personal struggles, making the show a unique mix of fantasy, history, and detective work.

What do the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, George Washington’s Bible, and the small town of Sleepy Hollow have in common? A man by the name of Ichabod Crane! Slain in the American Revolution fighting an evil foe on the battlefield, he awakens in a cave under the city two hundred years later. Baffled by modern conveniences and resentful of them (“This so-called coffee comes with a lump of cow’s milk on top of it, and costs more than a horse!”), he winds up (where else?) at the police department, where they sluff him off on Abbie Mills, a cop with a past. She doesn’t take Ichabod seriously until she sees a Headless Horseman behead her boss, Sheriff Corbin.

She and Ichabod have been chosen as Witnesses in the Last Days, and it’s up to them to stop the apocalypse. In each episode, they solve a mystery about sinister things that go bump in the night, from flesh-eating wendigos to trips to Purgatory and back, wrapped around an enigma of “how much the Founding Fathers knew about this, and prepared for it.” George Washington left secrets written in invisible ink in his Bible; Benjamin Franklin had a key to Purgatory that saves Ichabod Crane’s wife, a witch trapped by her coven, and so forth.

It’s a blend of mystery, murder, mayhem, historical revisionism, mythological creatures, and even a few fairy tales tied into the American Revolution (curious how a regiment died? The Pied Piper lead them to their slaughter!). Family curses haunt people for centuries to come (there’s a haunted house that once protected a coven), a Golem comes to life in its master’s defense (and terrorizes four witches from Greek mythology), and Ichabod and Katrina learn something sinister about their family tree as he and Abbie plot to take down the demon Moloch. They even meet up and temporarily join forces with an angel of death and destruction.

Though not conventional murder-mystery-solving detectives, it’s a riot to watch these two interact with the real world and dig into the past. One episode finds them rediscovering the lost colony of Roanoke, which is suffering from a magical pestilence that could spread a plague among humanity; another has them investigate a portrait in which a witch coven trapped a serial killer from Abigail Adams’ day (requiring Ichabod and his wife to enter the painting to rescue someone who has been dragged into it). It mentions ties to the witch hunts in Salem (they didn’t start how you think), and has trips to the underworld, not to mention demon-possessed minions.

What is really fun about it (admittedly, historical revisionism with magic is near and dear to my heart) are the two leads: the tough-talking but compassionate Abbie Mills, and a “man out of time,” in Ichabod Crane. Abbie is no-nonsense and down to earth, practical and focused on doing what she can to prevent evil from spreading its putrid poison into the world. If that means capturing the Headless Horseman or fighting a Gorgon, so be it. Ichabod keeps his Colonialist wardrobe and manners, despite living in the modern-day; he complains endlessly about the price of food, of room and board, of so-called ‘reality’ television, and in one episode, tells off a bank teller for wanting to drag people into debt. When Abbie tries to get him to wear modern clothes, within two minutes he is in his old coat and enlists the services of a reenactment seamstress to provide him with new clothing, in the same style.

Abbie has problems of her own, since she met Moloch the demon as a child in the woods, alongside her sister Jenny. When the police took them in for questioning, she knew they would think her insane and kept her mouth shut; Jenny went on and on about a demon and wound up in a series of mental institutions. Now both adults, their relationship is strained, but over the course of the series, we see them forgive each other. Meanwhile, Ichabod has to grapple with knowing his wife is a witch who has kept secrets from him, and their relationship struggles along with highs and lows as they save the world, repeatedly.

Where else can I hear a rant about how insufferable Benjamin Franklin was, thinking himself “always the smartest man in the room,” in the same episode as a fantastical journey to the underworld? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish watching season two…

Written for We Love Detectives Week!

About the Author: Charity Bishop writes historical fiction, historical fantasy, and suspense novels that explores the darkness in human hearts, and the light that refuses to be extinguished. Discover her books.