"The Devil and Tom Walker" is a short story by Washington Irving that first appeared in his 1824 collection Tales of a Traveller,[1] in "The Money-Diggers" part of volume II.

The story inspired other tales, including Wilhelm Hauff's "Heart of Stone" (1827)[2] and Stephen Vincent Benét's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936).

This is until he takes a walk in an abandoned Wampanoag fortress at the swamp (a relic of King Philip's War of 1675–1678), and starts up a conversation with the devil incarnate (referred to as "Old Scratch" and "the Black Man" in the story).

Old Scratch strikes a deal with Tom Walker, offering the riches hidden in the swamp by Captain Kidd in exchange for a great price, which is often thought to be his soul.

Because he can only use the treasure in Old Scratch's service, Tom agrees to become a usurer (today commonly called a loan shark), after refusing to become a slave trader.

He then becomes an obsessive church-goer, singing hymns in church in a much louder voice than all of the other parishioners, and always keeping two Bibles at hand—thinking that any sin on his neighbor's "account" is a "credit" to his own.

All his assets become worthless—his coach horses become skeletons, the gold and silver Tom hoarded turn into wood chips and shavings, his mortgages and deeds become cinders, and his great house burns to the ground.

[3][4][5] In 2017, experimental rock band, Flummox, released the single, “Tom Walker Blues,” whose lyrics & music video loosely adapt the tale.