• Deck Name: Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Headless Horseman Edition
• Author & Artist: Nick Lawyer
• Publisher: Schiffer
• Recommended retail price: $29.99
• ISBN No.: 978-0-7643-6863-9
• Review by: Melissa Stratton-Pandina

Like most kids from New England, I grew up having the Legend of Sleepy Hollow read to me. In fact, we grew up with the retellings that were much scarier than the Washington Irving original. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Tarot follows the feel of the retellings I grew up with. In addition to the characters of Ichabod, Brom and Katrina, the deck is sprinkled with witches and Native Americans, and is one of the better Halloween-themed decks that I have seen in a while.

This deck is an easy transition for a beginner reader to use. It holds close enough to the Rider Waite format, and is fairly easy to read with, with a few exceptions. Don’t expect the book to guide you, though.  Since I am from New England, (and only a short drive away from the real Sleepy Hollow in New York), I can see myself using this deck for reading at theme parties. My clients would get a kick out of having something that feels so American. This is a fun deck, but not primary deck material.

The art is fantastic. It takes the feel of Pamela Colman’s art work, updates it slightly, and adds in some really wonderful characters to create a modern yet olde-worlde type deck. The yellow, heavy, muted colors only add to the feel of this deck. The characterization is so good that I gave my husband the Fool card, and he guessed it correctly as Ichabod Crane without knowing the deck’s theme. Since the Sleepy Hollow story is somewhat limited, the artist expands the imagery to include that of Colonial America. There are puritanical priests, witches, ghosts, Native Americans, and a werewolf for good measure. These cards paint the picture of Ichabod’s world.  My only wish is that there was more of The Headless Horseman!

However, I didn’t like the guide book. It’s small and does not really remind you of the Sleepy Hollow story. Instead of having the story retold in an entertaining way, I felt like I had to reread the source material. The pip descriptions are where the book truly falls apart. They are about three sentences apiece with no information about why some artistic choices were made; so many questions about the 2 of Pentacles, for instance. The images are strong enough to make my dislike of the book irrelevant, but I didn’t find the book helpful at all.

The card-stock and packaging are a delight. The cards are a matte finish, but the backs are my favorite part of the whole deck. Embossed and gilded, the design is just gorgeous; complicated without being too busy, and adds to the theme of the deck. The box is well-designed with a strong, lift-off-top, very sturdy, and doesn’t take up the kind of space the large magnetic boxes do. This is my new favorite design for boxes!

I really enjoyed most of the images in this deck, but three cards really stood out for me.

The 4 of Swords with its either resting or dead revolutionary war soldier (his uniform hanging in the corner really endears me to this card) puts the figure into a time period instead of being a sleeping prince.

The 6 of Wands has a Mohawk warrior with a scalp on his pole. I like that Native Americans are depicted in victory, considering that King Phillips War would have been taking place around the same time.

My 3rd favorite image is The Fool. Everything in this image is perfect; from Ichabod looking down his nose with his head held back, to the pontificating hold of his book. 

However, there are two cards I have a problem with: the first is The Strength card. Brom is shown wrestling a boar or wolf. The Strength card is about how gentleness is true strength. Brom might be physically strong, but he’s a bully and a coward – and so, I think, the wrong choice for this card.

The other card I don’t understand is the 2 of Pentacles. My understanding is that this card is about things being up in the air, being uncertain. This card has two coins on the eyes of a corpse. As my grandma used to say, “Dead is dead”. There is no uncertainty at all. I love the image, but I think the meaning is all wrong. Worst of all, there is no explanation for this in the guidebook.

To conclude, this deck has the feel of a pumpkin-spiced latte, and a caramel apple. It has most of the elements that we in North-eastern America recognize as part of our heritage. For a themed deck, I would recommend the Sleepy Hollow Tarot for beginner to advanced readers. However, if you like hermetic and astrological elements, this deck doesn’t feature any, but still has enough detail to make it readable. Finally, I wouldn’t make this my primary deck, but it’s my Halloween house party deck from now on!