Announcing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Our 28 Days Later Halloween Challenge has come to life...

Every October, the world starts to feel a little more cinematic. There’s something about long shadows and falling leaves that makes stories hit differently. For OutWrd, that seasonal shift always sparks one question: what kind of story belongs here, right now?

This year, as we hit the ground running on our second full year of productions, we decided to find out the hard way by giving ourselves an almost impossible challenge.

We called it The 28 Days Later Challenge: write, record, score, and produce a full Halloween release in just twenty eight days. It’s the kind of challenge no sensible studio would take on voluntarily. Which, of course, is exactly why we did.

A Modern Take on an Old Legend

When we asked ourselves what story could justify the madness, there was only one real answer: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Washington Irving’s tale has haunted readers for over two centuries. A story of superstition, envy, and a horseman who may or may not have lost his head. But beneath its gothic imagery is something timeless: the fear of the unknown and the seduction of a story told too well to disbelieve.

That idea of how legends take root and grow fit perfectly with what OutWrd stands for. We build worlds with sound the way filmmakers build them with light. We chase the feeling of being there, even when “there” is a moonlit road where hoofbeats echo behind you.

So Sleepy Hollow felt like both a challenge and an invitation: take one of the most adapted ghost stories in American literature and make it feel new without breaking what made it legendary.

Two Parts, One Ride

From the beginning, our intention was simple: a lean, one-hour Halloween special. But, as tends to happen when creative adrenaline meets gothic Americana, the script grew teeth. Within a week, it was clear the story wanted more space to breathe.

By the end of the second draft, Sleepy Hollow had evolved into a two-part cinematic audio experience. Part I draws you into the sleepy little valley where superstition hangs. Part II… well, let’s just say you’ll want the lights low and the volume up.

Breaking it into two chapters wasn’t a marketing move - it was an artistic one. The pacing of Irving’s original text is deceptively slow, filled with tension built through gossip and mood rather than action. We wanted to preserve that creeping unease without rushing toward the Horseman’s arrival. The two-part format lets the audience live in that tension a little longer, to feel what Ichabod feels before everything starts to unravel. And boy does it ever unravel...

The 28-Day Sprint

Making something cinematic in under a month forces you to cut straight to what matters. There’s no time for overthinking. Just writing, recording, and trusting instinct.

The OutWrd method was built for exactly this kind of sprint. Our process begins with the screenplay itself: scenes are written as if they’ll be filmed, then performed by a single reader voicing the entire cast. From there, we sculpt the world through sound and music, pacing it like a movie, not a radio play.

It’s a workflow designed for efficiency, but it also demands total focus. Over the course of the month our team will be working across time zones and coffee schedules to bring Sleepy Hollow to life.

Recording starts as of the time of writing this. Soon we'll be layering early mixes of galloping hooves, rustling trees, and a score that moves from candlelit restraint to full orchestral dread.

Each day is a delightful race between creative instinct and the clock. And like any good horror story, the pressure makes things sharper.

Capturing the Atmosphere of The Legend

What makes Sleepy Hollow endure isn’t the scare, it’s the atmosphere. It’s the sound of the forest swallowing a man’s footsteps, the crack of a twig when the night is too still, the whisper of a legend you half remember but can’t quite place.

That’s where our cinematic approach really shines. Every sound in Sleepy Hollow has purpose. Wind, bells, rustling of trees and of course, the ominous sound of hoofs hitting forest floor. Are you getting it yet?

Our goal isn’t to recreate the past but to reimagine the feeling of a timeless ghost story through modern sound design. Think The VVitch meets Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, all the restraint, dread, and realism of a prestige film, delivered entirely through audio.

A New Home for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

This Halloween also marks a small but significant shift for us. OutWrd has officially moved to our new home at outwrdplus.com.

The change isn’t just cosmetic, it’s part of our growth. OutWrd Plus represents the next phase of what we’re building: a slate of cinematic audio dramas, a home for writers testing their screen stories in sound, and a growing hub for the kind of storytelling that refuses to fit inside traditional boxes. Sleepy Hollow is far from traditional, after all...

What Comes Next

We’re deep in production now, pushing through the final stretch of mixing and scoring. Both parts of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will release this Halloween season, with Part I premiering on October 30 and the second part landing on Halloween night.

And it's free for all listeners!

Final Thoughts

Taking on a project like Sleepy Hollow in just 28 days might seem reckless, but it’s the kind of creative risk that defines OutWrd. It forces us to work fast, think cinematically, and stay close to the pulse of the story.

As always, thank you for listening, sharing, and believing in what we’re building. Keep an ear out for the trailer drop soon - and when you hear hoofbeats in the dark this October, maybe don’t look back.

Happy Halloween.

The OutWrd Team