Ben Van Brunt is the 14 year old adventurous grandchild of Abraham Van Brunt AKA Brom Bones, the man who won the hand and heart of Katrina Van Tassel over Ichabod Crane all those years ago. Brom and Katrina's son Bendix and daughter-in-law Fenna died when Ben was a wee thing and the pair have raised Ben as their own ever since. Ben is the apple of Brom's eye, a tall and strong young thing who follows right in Opa's footsteps, while Katrina is constantly fussing at Bente to act like a proper young lady instead of one of the boys. However, Ben dresses like a boy and acts like a boy and wishes to be considered a boy, period, despite her Oma's concerns.
One day while Ben and best friend Sander are playing "Sleepy Hollow boys" in the woods, reenacting the fabled tale of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman, and Ben's own grandfather, Brom Bones, the pair follow a group of adults on horses. Much to their shock, they see the disfigured body of local bully Cristoffel van den Berg, his head and hands crudely torn from his body. Ben's grandfather insists the Headless Horseman is just a local story, but Ben senses something else in the woods, something malevolent.
As this mysterious creature continues to prey on livestock as well as several other local boys, all Ben's age, Ben becomes more determined to figure out what is going on, especially since he saw the creature standing over a sheep on his land that it had just butchered. He feels hunted by this same creature, while he also feels the Horseman whispering his name on the winds, as if the Horseman has marked Ben for his very own. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.
One thing is for certain - the truth about the deaths of Ben's parents has been kept a secret from him, along with a lot of other things, but will his quest for the truth lead to his ruin or the freedom he has always longed for?
Once again, Christina Henry crafts a compelling and engaging story around a well known fairytale, only her stories tend to be more graphic, brutal and twisted. She is somehow able to create a more grown-up story of a tale we would have heard as children, and as I read her stories, I feel the same sense of horror and dread I felt as a child, reading the more gentle versions of the same tales. It's a magical gift she possesses and one of the reasons I eagerly await any new release that I hear she has written. If you are already a fan, you probably have this book preordered, but if you have even a passing interest in twisted fairytales, check out Horseman. Highly recommended, especially for the upcoming spooky season.
