Return to Sleepy Hollow by Casey Gilly
IDW Dark (September 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Casey Gilly is a comics writer, horror fan, and mother to a young boy. The first two prepared her for the third. Her work includes Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer, My Little Pony: Generations, Star Wars Adventures, and My Little Pony: A New Generation. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she spends most of her time raising her son to be a dashing YA villain, writing dashing YA villains, and bringing home cursed items from thrift stores. Her newest graphic novel is Return to Sleepy Hollow.
The Headless Horseman hasn’t plagued Sleepy Hollow for fifteen years, but unbeknownst to the valley residents, a deeper evil lurks in the roots of the town, one determined to quench its thirst for blood. Ichabod Crane is a man of science and, despite his indisputable brush with the supernatural, has built a name for himself debunking claims of the occult across the world. However, when he receives a frantic letter urging him to return to Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod must reunite with his now estranged love, Katrina Van Tassel, to investigate a string of strange, unexplainable murders–—residents who died tangled in roots, decorated in flowers, or blanketed in soil. The pair unearth tales of possessed townsfolk and the Tree of the Dead, and together they will uncover the truth of Sleepy Hollow’s origins and the roots that connect them all.
Gilly’s novel is based on both the original Washington Irving tale, as well as the Tim Burton film, and reads as an extension of both. There are film characters like Young Masbath, who now serves Crane in his paranormal investigations and debunking services, as well as iconic settings like the Tree of the Dead. However, familiarity with either version of the tale is not necessary, as Gilly’s novel quickly establishes characters and relationships while creating a whole new terror of her own. Savanna Mayer’s illustrations serve this novel well, especially the graphic body horror of bodies and plants intertwined and decorated with blossoms.Readers of folk horror, body horror, and graphic novels will thoroughly enjoy this book.
Gilly’s novel is based on both the original Washington Irving tale, as well as the Tim Burton film, and reads as an extension of both. There are film characters like Young Masbath, who now serves Crane in his paranormal investigations and debunking services, as well as iconic settings like the Tree of the Dead. However, familiarity with either version of the tale is not necessary, as Gilly’s novel quickly establishes characters and relationships while creating a whole new terror of her own. Savanna Mayer’s illustrations serve this novel well, especially the graphic body horror of bodies and plants intertwined and decorated with blossoms. Readers of folk horror, body horror, and graphic novels will thoroughly enjoy this book.
