The Fifth Horseman: A Sleepy Hollow Legend is a novel by Gregg Gonzales, revolving around a terrifying battle with the supernatural in the town of Sleepy Hollow, set over the course of September and October of 1988. The narrator is Carl Penderholt, a junior in college who's home recovering from mononucleosis, and gets caught up in matters when his old friend Jon Storm is killed by the Headless Horseman. Investigating what Jon had been up to recently, Carl soon discovers that what he thought was a fun search for pirate treasure is in fact part of a war for the very souls of the people of Sleepy Hollow.
This book contains examples of:
- Abuse of Return Policy: Patrick Higgins is a dedicated user of this as a way of living beyond his means, which he calls the "thirty-day plan" — buy something with at least a thirty-day, money-back guarantee, use it and return it. During the events of the book, he uses it to get a metal detector, but the narration notes that he's previously used this method to furnish his room with a different stereo every month, and to get a radar detector.
- Ancient Order of Protectors: During their meeting in the funeral home, Old Van Dam reveals to Carl and his friends that he's part of a secret Masonic order that's sworn to protect Sleepy Hollow from evil.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dr. Van Tassel, who pretends to be friendly but is actually the leader of the coven that's secretly behind much of the evil in Sleepy Hollow.
- Buried Alive: When old Van Dam's attempted Faking the Dead was figured out by his enemies, they ensured he'd be trapped in his coffin rather than escape it like he planned, resulting in this trope.
- The Conspiracy: The wicked coven that's secretly controlled Sleepy Hollow for centuries, using a mix of black magic, fear and paranoia-inducing drugs.
- Crystal Skull: The titular Fifth Horseman can only be defeated by performing a ritual with a certain crystal skull, which sucks Chaos out of its physical body and traps it within the skull.
- Death by Irony: A variant in that it's not the actual death, but what happens afterward — Carl notes to himself that "I thought how ironic it was that the poor butcher should be found strung up and dead among so many bovine onlookers."
- Driven to Suicide: Dr. Peabody tries to destroy his files and then shoots himself to escape justice for his involvement in the Sleepy Hollow coven.
- Faking the Dead:
- Old Van Dam pretends to have died in his sleep, only revealing his true status to Carl and his friends and intending to slip out of his coffin before the burial so he can attend his own funeral in disguise. The trope is subverted when he's found out by his enemies and buried alive.
- Dr. Van Tassel does this, animating his own ancestor and then de-animating him to leave a body behind that people will think is him.
- Headless Horseman: Naturally, given this is set in Sleepy Hollow. The titular character is actually Chaos, the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, whom a coven accidentally called up to possess the body of the headless Hessian horseman of legend, and is the real Big Bad of the story.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The titular Fifth Horseman is Chaos, the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, who "brings anarchy, conspiracy, suspicion, paranoia, confusion, mistrust and doubt — all of which destroy man from the inside out.", and has taken over the body of the Headless Horseman that haunts Sleepy Hollow. It's finally defeated when it's sucked from its physical body and confined in a certain crystal skull, which first has to be activated via a special ritual.
- Living Shadow: This is one of the Horseman's powers, as it can send its shadow out to do its bidding, usually to capture someone. In the climax, after the Horseman's spirit is sucked into the crystal skull, the shadow reappears, tries to attack them... and due to its insubstantiality without its master to help, fails to do any harm and is then promptly sucked in as well.
- Never Found the Body: Jaime is captured by the Horseman very late in the book and never seen again.
- Off with His Head!: The Headless Horseman's favorite method of disposing of its victims. It's how he kills Dr. Van Tassel, which also exposes the latter as one of the villains.
- Police Are Useless: Carl's older brother Elliot certainly thinks so of the local police, and feels that even their chief, who's easily the best on the force, won't do much good when it comes down to solving Jon Storm's murder.
- Shot in the Ass: One of the protagonists, Patrick Higgins, get shot in the butt by the Headless Horseman itself while he's part of a group trying to follow the horse that the demon is using. Fortunately, it's just a flesh wound.
- Undercover Cop Reveal: Mr. Morris eventually confesses to Carl and his friends that he's an agent for the FBI, who's been investigating the coven in Sleepy Hollow for years.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue picks up ten years later as Carl details what happened to pretty much all the survivors of the story; he himself commutes from Sleepy Hollow to New York City, working for a financial organization of some type.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The final arc of the story, Halloween night itself, turns into this as the Headless Horseman reanimates an army of undead soldiers from the American Revolution to wage all-out war against the people of Sleepy Hollow, with the residents fighting back to survive and defeat the zombies.
