Washington Irving wrote for all our upstate seasons. He captured the laziness of late summer in Rip Van Winkle and cemented the blustering winds and scattering leaves of our present Halloweeny days in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – both pulled from his classic Sketch Book, authored pseudonymously by one Geoffrey Crayon.

The works made for standard stage presentations right from the start, and long before Tim Burton and Johnny Depp tried altering the story of one Ichabod Crane for all time. Sleepy Hollow was a particular favorite throughout the 19th century and later became one of the first great silent film stories, told in numerous versions as the years of presented pantomimes gave way to the mesmerizing antics of motion pictures.

This Saturday, the Kingston Library kicks off our own region’s spooky season by drawing the classic Legend story forth from its original Westchester setting into our own autumnal setting, via the dramatic storytelling treats (and tricks) of Cold Spring-based Jonathan Kruk. Historic Hudson Valley’s official yarnspinner is a frequent guest on the likes of PBS, NY Crossroads, NPR and the National Geographic, History, Food and Outdoor television channels.

Recently, Kruk has been funded by the New York Foundation for the Arts and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, among other sources, to turn his storytelling into books.

He will start his performance of Irving/Crayon’s great tale of Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel and the Headless Horseman starting at 10:30 a.m. in the Kingston Library, located at 55 Franklin Street in Midtown, as part of the institution’s Super Saturdays Program for older school-age children. Talk about getting into the spooky mood that the season now requires. Oo-ee-ooooooo!

For further information call (845) 331-0507 or visit www.kingstonlibrary.org.