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Stories From Main Street: Spookytime At Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY (WCBS 880) - Just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge is a village full of ghosts and goblins and a rich part of New York's history.

WCBS 880's Sean Adams On The Story

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If you visit the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at night, you might hear a noise. It's not the Headless Horseman. It's just your guide - Roseanne Middich.

"I've actually seen the Headless Horseman and I can tell you he's a pretty nice guy," she said.

So, grab a kerosene lantern and go on the tour.

"Whatever you like, you can find it in the cemetery. If you like history, there's plenty of history here. If you like nature, of course you're gonna find that here. Art and architecture, all you have to do is look at monuments. It's just all here," she told Middich told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams.

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Stories from Main Street - Photo: Evan Bindelglass / WCBS 880

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Washington Irving is buried there.

But Middich goes beyond his fanciful "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

"He began to call New Yorkers 'Knickerbockers' and he also invented the word 'Gotham' for New York," she said.

This is the final resting place for Walter Chrysler, Elizabeth Arden, Leona Welmsley, Brooke Astor and William Rockefeller.

Rockefeller has the largest monument in the cemetery - which just happens to look like a bank.

In stark contrast is the simple Celtic cross for steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.

"He was a great philanthropist. He had a motto that if you die, wealthy you die disgraced," she said.

LINK: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Official Site)

In the dark, the mind can play tricks. Shadows shift.

"I've never been in cemetery at night," said Joan Hart from Virginia.

"Did you have any apprehension about doing that whatsoever?" asked Adams.

"A little bit, you know, but I'm okay now," she answered.

"I loved it. It was informative and fun," said Barbara Rose of Ossining.

Have you ever been to a cemetery at night? Share your story below!

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