There’s an increasingly literary side to Fox’s scary shows. “The Following,” for one, made much of a connection to Edgar Allan Poe.
Now comes “Sleepy Hollow,” inspired by the Washington Irving story — though, like “The Following,” with its own direction to take.
Of course, Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” has been fodder for fear for many years, not only on the page but in a Disney cartoon and in a 1999 movie starring Johnny Depp.
But there’s no doubt that the Fox series, premiering at 9 tonight, wants to make its viewers verrrrry uncomfortable.
In this retelling, Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) has been asleep for centuries, only to awake in 2013 — just as his old foe the Headless Horseman is also on the loose again.
Crane wants to stop the Horseman, but to do so, he has to convince people that the threat is real and get their help; one important ally is a local police officer, Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie).
Even then, it soon becomes clear that the Horseman is not a solo menace; as Fox has said, this is “the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and only one of the many formidable foes that Ichabod must face to protect not only Sleepy Hollow, but the world.”
There is plenty of killing in the premiere, and mild surprises about who is good and bad, as the show firmly embraces the current TV-series policy that just about anyone can be killed or evil at any time.
“Sleepy Hollow” barely acknowledges that its main character’s mindset is firmly in the 18th century.
Still, “Sleepy Hollow” has some spooky fun in the premiere — and I know one viewer who, though no fan of horror, is eager to see more of this show.
Watch it
“Sleepy Hollow” premieres at 9 tonight on Fox.
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