Hollow Books In Order

Publication Order of The Hollow Books

The Hollow are a series of novels by fantasy fiction, young adult, and horror novelist, the award-winning Christopher Golden. The first novel in the Hollowseries was “Horseman” first published in 2005, that just like his previous novels went on to become very popular. After the first novel enjoyed much success, Golden went on to publish three more titles in the series with the last one published in 2006. Co-authored with Ford Lytle Gilmore the young adult author the series is derived from Washington Irving’s very popular work “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. The Hollow series is set in the small town of Hollow, that is under a curse and heavily infested with the paranormal. Since Golden grew up as a Stephen King fan, it is not surprising that Christopher Golden’s work in the series has been compared to that of the master horror storyteller. The theme of the lead characters having to confront some of the darkest and most terrifying of the paranormal is particularly poignant in the series of novels. The lead characters in the series are two siblings Shane and Aime that have to face up to a range of paranormal objects and creatures in their small hometown of Sleepy Hollow. Aside from Stephen King, the author asserts the influence of TV series and movies such as Creature Double Feature, Kolchak the Night Stalker, and the Twilight Zone as major influences in the writing of the series of novels.

The Hollows series of novels are a thrilling set of novels that will have any horror fiction buff on the edge of their seat. The novels are great not only for anyone that lived for the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” tales by Washington Irving, even if the retelling of the legend does not make a significant part of the novels. Christopher Golden writes excellent narratives that lend themselves to multiple rereading given their delicious plot lines. The novels in the Hollows series of novels are full of action right from the first page even as they take quite some time to set up everything in the plot. Weird stuff starts happening right from the start when the lead protagonists in the series and their dad arrive in their hometown of Sleepy Hollow. In scenes reminiscent of King’s most beloved horrors, the novels have the classic reports of hellhound sounds, lights blowing out, and encounters with demons, murderous cornstalks, and enchanted trees. Even as the two protagonists may have some extraordinary powers and the grit and determination to put an end to the paranormal happenings in their hometown, most of the time it is impossible to do so given that the killer happens to a headless ghost. The Headless Horseman comes back from legend to spread terror and death in the small town, and it is now up to the lead protagonists to figure out how to deal with the spectral figure.

The series of novels are a combination of several genres including romance, drama, suspense, and thriller all in one. Legend and myth come alive in the series written through the eyes of two teenage protagonists, making the series more of adult horror and fantasy fiction than pure horror. The twists and turns of plot seem to be elaborately planned making for a lot of thrill and suspense. There are also many references to fictional characters such as Baltus Van Tassel, Ichabod Crane, and Washington Irving, including a range of people once thought to be fictional. The author s make a good job in making it almost impossible to guess the outcome of the narrative as the person thought to be the villain or hero most of the time turns out not to be what you thought they were. The novels have some great investigations particularly involving enchanted trees and the legend of the Headless Horseman. The narratives about weird creature such as Hizzoner the black dog and Aime’s friend the ghostly Theodore Hasselbeck make for some very good sagas. Given that the lead protagonists are teenagers. The themes of romance, love, and betrayal are also very prominent particularly on the part of Shane who has a crush on Aimee’s best friend. Turning the legend on its head, the Hollow series makes one rethink all they knew about the small town of Sleepy Hollow. These are slightly creepy though great fun reads steeped in legend and myth that would make for great Halloween readers.

“Horseman”, the first novel in the series sees Aimee and Shane Lancaster move back to their hometown of Sleepy Hollow. As expected, the teenagers do not love that they have to leave behind the big city of Boston for the rural town. But things get even more interesting when they get into town to find the street lights blowing out and hellish hounds barking all over town. An even stranger thing is the report of a giant black dog christened Hizzoner that has been sighted by the town’s folk. Then there is the sighting of a headless rider on a black horse once thought to be legend that has been decapitating people in town. Shane and Aimee are witness to one such decapitation and soon it is apparent that the headless horseman is toying with them. Their father remains skeptical of the reported sightings of the paranormal, and it is now up to the two siblings are determined to convince him otherwise. First things first, Shane, Aimee and their new friend Stasia need to stop the headless equestrian in his murderous rampage. With a modern-day twist on the legend of Sleepy Hollow Headless Horseman, the novel is a cool twist on Washington Irving’s original narrative.

“Drowned”, the second novel in the series is a grab you by the ankles, grab you by the neck narrative with one of the most terrifying of horror narratives. Aimee and Shane together with their father are the descendants of Ichabod Crane, who have just moved back to their hometown of Sleepy Hollow. They had stopped the terror of the Headless Horseman for a time but now the cursed town of Sleepy Hollow is facing other paranormal evils. The siblings organize an unsupervised drinking party in a cornfield, which turns out to be one of their worst days. As soon as they start having fun, they are startled by impish cackling laughter, blown out lights, and unseen forces that drag the party goers through the cornfields. It is not long before there are worrying reports of people drowning in the unlikeliest of places such as their bedrooms. The drownings seems to be connected to the naiads, deadly and beautiful sirens with a reputation for drowning people on dry land that have been sighted on the Hudson River. Coupled with the weird happenings is the bickering between the siblings, and the hidden romance that Shane has on Stasia that adds quite the spice to the narrative.