July 19, 2021
The horror in this sequel to the classic Irving yarn from Henry (Near the Bone) isn’t particularly fresh—it’s a straightforward monster-in-the-woods scenario—but there’s still plenty to keep the pages turning. Twenty years after the events of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 14-year-old trans boy Ben Van Brunt is raised by his grandparents, the rollicking Brom “Bones” Van Brunt and prim Kristina Van Tassel, in the small New York town, his parents long dead in mysterious circumstances. Skylarking in the autumn woods, Ben witnesses village men conferring over the headless, handless body of another local boy. Later, Ben’s sense of an eerie presence in his grandfather’s fields is confirmed when he spies a creature sucking blood from a second victim. This monstrous evil is not the Horseman—though Ben senses him, too, as a weird guardian with altogether different intentions. Uncovering those motivations, as well as his family history and why the evil haunts it, soon consumes every aspect of Ben’s existence. Occasional wobbles of worldbuilding—how are there residents Ben doesn’t know in a one-street village?—and the handling of Ben’s gender identity, combined with flip-the-switch character development, tarnish but do not ruin the experience. Readers won’t be wowed, but they will be entertained. Agent: Lucienne Diver, the Knight Agency.
September 1, 2021
Henry follows Near the Bone (2021) with a historical, dark fantasy regeneration of Washington Irving's famous tale surrounding Ichabod Crane's terrifying encounter with the Headless Horseman. Crane disappeared but his presence lingers on and even after thirty years, Sleepy Hollow remains a magical place with an enduring sense of wonder and acceptance of horror. Fourteen-year-old Bente, who prefers to go by Ben, is the grandchild of Brom Van Brunt and Katrina Van Tassel, the other two thirds of the original romantic triangle. Having never known her parents, Ben wants to be just like her larger-than-life grandfather but Katarina insists she learn to comport herself like a young lady. Brom has always scoffed at the villagers' superstitious belief in the Horseman, but after the discovery of a dismembered body in the forest, Ben is convinced something else--something even more dangerous than the Horseman--is haunting Sleepy Hollow. Is the legendary night rider responsible for the gruesome mutilation of a young boy? Fans of gothic horror will be eager to follow Ben into the woods.
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