The Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow

"But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts and apparitions that succeeded. The neighborhood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind. Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered long-settled retreats; but are trampled underfoot by the shifting throngs that forms the population of most of our country places.

Besides, there is no encouragement for ghosts in most of our villages, for they have scarcely had time to finish their first nap, and turn themselves in their graves before their surviving friends have traveled away from the neighborhood; so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds, they have no acquaintances left to call upon. This is perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear of ghosts, except in our long-established Dutch communities."

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving