Just in time for Halloween, Lyndhurst welcomes back Edgar Award–winning author J.W. Ocker for a talk on his new book — a preview before its official September 29 release.

Chasing the Headless Horseman: The History, Hijinks, and Halloweens of the Real Sleepy Hollow investigates the town that inspired Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Blending travelogue, cultural criticism, and behind-the-scenes reporting, Ocker digs into the tensions between tourism and tradition, profit and preservation, fiction and fact — telling the story of how one small town reinvented itself as America’s Halloween capital, complete with statues, street signs, and an 18-foot Headless Horseman. For readers who loved what A Season with the Witch did for Salem, this does the same for Sleepy Hollow.

Ocker’s other books include A Season with the Witch, Twelve Nights at Rotter House, The United States of Cryptids, and The New York Grimpendium. He’ll be available to sign and sell books after the talk.

Know before you go:

• General admission $10 + service fees; talk runs about one hour
• Not recommended for children under 12
• This ticket does not include mansion access
• Arrive 15 minutes early; check in at the ADA-accessible Welcome Center
• Tickets are non-refundable; the talk may sell out

Why this is a must for Sleepy Hollow visitors: This is the definitive behind-the-scenes look at your own backyard — the real town behind the legend, told by one of the sharpest writers working in the macabre. Come for the talk, then go see it for yourself: the Horseman statue, the Old Dutch Church, and the haunts that made Sleepy Hollow America’s Halloween capital.

Want more? On October 10, Ocker returns for an evening panel at Tarrytown Music Hall with four Horseman-inspired novelists — and every $35 ticket includes a signed hardcover. See the Music Hall panel →