Paranormal Classic: Ghost Hunter by Hans Holzer

When I was in high school, my first exposure to the paranormal was through the books of Hans Holzer.  I found a small selection of his books at my high school library and eagerly checked them out, carefully hiding them in my backpack to insure that my grandmother would not find what I was reading.  At the time I was just starting my museum career by volunteering at the Whaley House in Old Town San Diego and Hans Holzer was a legend at the site for the seances he held in the 1960s at the site with the medium Sybil Leek.  Hans Holzer for better or worse helped make the Whaley House famous.  The house was known locally for its legends and lore, but after appearing in Ghosts of the Golden West (1968) the museum was exposed to a national audience and became a must-see tourist attraction.  There was only one problem--the information Sybil Leek relayed in her trance readings could not be  verified by the historical record.  This proved a very important moment in my development as a historian as I began to critically analyze the works of mediums and paranormal investigators against the historic record.  I stopped reading Holzer's works and turned to other writers to satisfy my interest in the topic.  I recently decided to reassess the works of Hans Holzer who passed away in 2009 after it was announced that the Travel Channel will be airing a new series The Holzer Files based on his case files in October 2019.     

Hans Holzer was born in Austria in 1920.  His interest in the paranormal was sparked as a child.  Though at first he did not foresee that he would turn his interest into a successful career.  Holzer studied archaeology and ancient history at the University of Vienna.  His studies were interrupted by the fear of  Nazi Germany's interest in Austria and the Holzer family immigrated to the United States in 1938 escaping the horrors of World War II.  Settling in New York City, Hans Holzer made his living as a free-lance writer which allowed him to travel extensively after World War II.  As a free-lance writer, Holzer started to write on paranormal topics.  He became perhaps one of the first modern professional paranormal investigators, working with a group of trance mediums and psychics.  As a self proclaimed "artistic person," Holzer mingled with artists, writers, and the social elite, many of them interested in the paranormal.  In 1963, Holzer published his first book Ghost Hunter detailing his investigations.

Hans Holzer in the 1960s (Image courtesy of  Wikipedia Media )

Ghost Hunter was a groundbreaking book and introduced ghost hunting to middle-America.  The book is as a crackling good read.  Holzer was a very talented writer and knew how to tell a good story.  Through the pages of Ghost Hunter, Hans Holzer takes his reader through swanky New York apartments and secluded country homes in search of restless spirits.  In suite and tie, Holzer hunted the ghosts of artists, Colonial soldiers, and murdered playboys.  Ghost hunting has never been as cool or sophisticated as it was in Holzer's era.  I can't help feeling that Holzer would be appalled by today's ghost hunters attired in matching team t-shirts, baggy jeans, with pockets bulging with electronic equipment and e-cigarettes.
 
Holzer admits that he was an impatient ghost hunter and did not like to sit in a darkened room trying to contact ghosts, rather he preferred action and enlisted mediums to speak to the ghosts.  And that was one of Holzer's major failings as a ghost hunter.  He relied too much on the word of physics over the historic record.  Throughout Ghost Hunter, Holzer unquestioningly relied on the readings of physic Ethel Johnson-Meyers, bending the historic record to match her readings.  The best example being "The Fifth Avenue Ghost" investigation where Holzer asserted that Confederate General Samuel McGowan was murdered in New York City and that his death was covered up for years by his family before his "official" death was announced in 1897.  The claim strains credibility.

Hans Holzer is also a product of his era and as a result exhibits the prejudices of his timeperiod.  He looked down on everyone that was not part of his social set.  "Fortunately, I have a low opinion of police intelligence," Holzer declared while writing about his search for an illusive location (pg. 105).  People of color are not represented in his cases, the ghosts and clients are all lily-white and belong to the upper class.  In one egregious example, Holzer forces himself into an apartment without being invited by the current occupants because of a story he received from a prior tenant.  "Finally, I decided to send a letter announcing my forthcoming visit three days hence at one thirty in the afternoon, and would they please be in, as I had the permission of their landlord to see them," Holzer wrote (pg. 81).  Needless to say, Holzer was allowed in the apartment.  The current tenants, a working-class Puerto Rican family had never experienced anything paranormal in their apartment.  Holzer's behaviour and his attitude while recounting his exploits in this case are simply cringe worthy. 

While parts of Ghost Hunter are painfully marred by the authors prejudices, the book is an important work in paranormal literature and should be read by every investigator and writer.  Without the work of Holzer and other early pioneers of paranormal research and investigation, ghost hunting would not have become the pop culture phenomena that it is today.  Holzer had a profound impact on my interest in the paranormal and for that I will always be grateful. 

Ghost Hunter: The Groundbreaking Classic of Paranormal Investigation is available for purchase from Amazon