The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written in 1820 by Washington Irving and has since had many adaptations made based on the original material, including a TV show and several movies.
The original tale is considered one of the first ghost stories and features a headless horseman. Ichabod Crane is the main protagonist although he is not exactly a hero. He is interested in the lovely Katrina Van Tassel and wishes to marry her. He faces a rival in Brom Van Brunt and the two go head to head for her hand.
On a ride home after a party, Ichabod faces a horrifying spectre, a headless horseman, said to be a fallen soldier. He is chased by the horseman and it throws its severed head at Ichabod, knocking him from his horse. The story is left open ended in that we do not know exactly if Ichabod survives.
Later adaptions tell a different story, making Ichabod more of a hero. In the 1999 movie starring Johnny Depp, Ichabod becomes a detective rather than a schoolteacher and while he is hardly heroic, he does end up with Katrina and survives his encounter with the horseman.
A TV adaption took the idea further, taking Ichabod from the past and having him wake up in the future. While the horseman was one of the main antagonists, there were other demons for Ichabod to fight.
The idea of a terrifying ghost, stalking the night, minus its head, is a chilling tale indeed. There are many tales over the years of ghosts appearing at night and while many can probably be discounted or disproven, not all of the can.