[elfbwillow]

There are so many different stories about the headless horseman, including those which have been put into films.

The thing is - there are so many different stories from all over the world of the sight or tale of a headless horseman. I am not a sceptic, but how can all of these stories be true as there are so many, or did they originate from one in particular?

There are many sites on the net, all say similar and all say different!

My local town has its own headless horseman story - who apparently is seen in the local woods in the dead of night on a particular night. I was wondering though, could this story be a way of keeping children away from woods at night - away from non-paranormal danger?!?

What do others think? Has anyone else got a 'local headless horseman'?

[elfbwillow]

On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow traveler in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck, on perceiving that (the rider) was headless!--but his horror was still more increased, on observing that the head, which should have rested on (the rider's) shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle.

--Washington Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

[coldethyl]

yeah, i always thought that the headless horseman was just a fiction book.

s'posed it could have been based on a 'true story' so to speak. gosh, i've not read that book in more than 20 years!

[Undefined_innocence]

It is physically impossible for one to survive without ones head.
IF it was true at one time, and someone actually seen it, then I would have to say that it was only a prank/scheme.
Im totally skeptical about this ever having been real.

[coldethyl]

the whole thing is one is supposed to see the ghost of the headless horseman.
i don't believe in this one at all. if the washington irving story was based on folklore it was prolly one of those stories told to keep ppl off the streets so the drunks could find their way home...

[Elfstone810]

There is a story of a ghostly Hessian soldier who searches the old American Revolutionary War battlefield where he died, trying to find his head. Actually, it's fairly common to find reports of ghosts who lost a body part in life searching for it after death. Usually it's the head, but not always.

There's a manor in England that's supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Sir Edmund Verney, the King's standard bearer at the battle of Edgehill. When he was captured by Cromwell's men he refused to give up the standard and was killed, but they were unable to pry to pennant from his death grip so they cut off his hand. Later in the battle, when the standard was re-captured, his hand was still gripping the staff and was identified by his signet ring. His body had been buried on the battlefield, but his hand was sent home and buried in the family vault. Now he's said to roam the grounds at night looking for it.

I guess headless ghosts and the like are as possible as any other kind.

[Falco Rex]

Yes, oftentimes ghosts have been reported as missing various body parts..What strikes me as fishy though is in the case of Horsemen; is that it's always the head they lack..
you never once hear of an armless horseman; or a horseman missing one leg..
More than anything else the consistency of the headless state leads me to believe that these stories are just legends..

[coldethyl]

Yes, oftentimes ghosts have been reported as missing various body parts..What strikes me as fishy though is in the case of Horsemen; is that it's always the head they lack..
you never once hear of an armless horseman; or a horseman missing one leg..
More than anything else the consistency of the headless state leads me to believe that these stories are just legends..

horsemen missing arms or legs would have a tendency to fall off their horses, thereby making them just regular ghost. hee hee

[Falco Rex]

I figured somebody would say that.. And though you were probably joking I had an answer ready if it was serious..
Simply this..Ghosts that are only torsos' are often seen moving about normally as if thier legs were there but invisible..Sometimes ghosts are reported as only legs and yet they seem to know where to walk. It would seem, wouldn't it; that the state of visibility of limbs and heads doesn't impede them in many ways?
Therefore a spectral horseman; we could conjecture; might be seen in a variety of states. And yet only the lack of a head is ever mentioned..
So to me it seems we have more of an archetypical legend than a true spirit..

[coldethyl]

I figured somebody would say that.. And though you were probably joking I had an answer ready if it was serious..
Simply this..Ghosts that are only torsos' are often seen moving about normally as if thier legs were there but invisible..Sometimes ghosts are reported as only legs and yet they seem to know where to walk. It would seem, wouldn't it; that the state of visibility of limbs and heads doesn't impede them in many ways?
Therefore a spectral horseman; we could conjecture; might be seen in a variety of states. And yet only the lack of a head is ever mentioned..
So to me it seems we have more of an archetypical legend than a true spirit..

yeah i was only joking.

[dragonlady_mothman]

i think its an urban legend. could be based on an actual event, but i doubt Sleepy Hollow really happened.

though i do like Johnny Depp acting like a crazy coroner and all the people standing around them going, "My gosh! They sent us a buffoon!" and the things the bad guy (no spoilers here, just in case) shouting stuff at the climax like, "Watch your head!"

[coldethyl]

i think its an urban legend.  could be based on an actual event, but i doubt Sleepy Hollow really happened.

though i do like Johnny Depp acting like a crazy coroner and all the people standing around them going, "My gosh!  They sent us a buffoon!" and the things the bad guy (no spoilers here, just in case) shouting stuff at the climax like, "Watch your head!"

i'll watch johnny depp do anything.....

[_Nyx_]

I came across a headless horseman story from Corpus Christi, Texas. The place is called Headless Horseman Hill. The ghost of a headless cowboy riding a horse has been reported for over one hundred years there. The cowboy is thought to be a horse thief who was captured by a posse and gruesomely decapitated because they couldn't find a suitable tree to hang him from.

[dragonlady_mothman]

I repeat: Urban legend. possibly based on an actual events, but still an urban legend.

[chedster]

I repeat:  Urban legend.  possibly based on an actual events, but still an urban legend.

So here's a question, OK so we have this fellow with no head charging around the place but he has to be riding a horse right? is the horse a ghost, or what, I mean there are animal ghost reports and that sort of thing, does this mean that the orseman's ride was killed at the same time?...