The Questionable Research of Hans Holzer, Dean of Ghost Hunters (1920–2009)
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SI Sept/Oct 2009 pgs 7/22/09 2:13 PM Page 5 NEWS AND COMMENT The Questionable Research of Hans Holzer, Dean of Ghost Hunters (1920–2009) JOE NICKELL thus falling into the realm of parapsy- Americans and pointed out that in any chology or psychic research. case it was not the Shinnecocks but the During the second half of the twentieth Holzer cranked out book after mys- Montaukett Indians who had settled the century, “Dr.” Hans Holzer, a self-styled tery-mongering book, such as Haunted area. Worse, the Amityville haunting tale parapsychologist who died April 2, House Album (1971) and America’s proved to have been a hoax (Nickell 2009, at the age of eighty-nine, was the Haunted Houses (1991), in which he 2004, 73–77). dean of ghost hunters. Attracted to the reported on his “investigations” of sup- In trying to sell Amityville spooki- supernatural in childhood, he went on posedly haunted sites. ness, Holzer also published “photo- to pen over a hundred books on occult He is credited by Wikipedia with graphs of bullet holes from the 1974 subjects. He was also a Wiccan high coining the terms The Other Side and murders in which mysterious halos priest and claimed to have had past (for the title of his first paranormal appeared” (Grimes 2009). Actually, the lives—for instance, supposedly having book, published in 1963) Ghost Hunter single bullet-strike photo appearing in been present at the 1692 “Battle” of (“Hans Holzer” 2009c). In fact, how- Murder in Amityville (Holzer 1979, Glencoe (“Hans Holzer” 2009a). ever, the first term appears in the title of 158) is labeled a “psychic photograph,” was made under questionable (certainly Dubious Background at least one nineteenth-century book, “I Awoke”: Conditions of Life on the Other not forensic) conditions, and exhibits Holzer—who was born in Vienna, Side Communicated by Automatic overall blurring (apparently due to Austria, on January 26, 1920—used to Writing (1895), and Holzer’s antece- movement of the camera when the pic- enthrall his fellow kindergarten pupils dent, Harry Price (1881–1948), pub- ture was snapped). What Holzer terms with ghost tales that he pretended to lished a book in 1936 titled Confessions an “auric imprint” may be nothing more read but actually only “made out of of a Ghost Hunter. than, say, light reflecting from impact- whole cloth” (Holzer 1963, 9). By age beveling around the bullet hole—if, six he was guilty of “regaling my “Investigations” indeed, it is a bullet hole. (Holzer never mother’s family in Moravia with tales Holzer decried today’s so-called para- used that term, referring to “strange told me, allegedly, by the wood sprites normal investigators, whom he por- haloes exactly where the bullets had in the trees along the little river that trayed as “running around with Geiger struck” [Holzer 1991, 177].) flows through the city of Bruenn”— counters and cameras and instruments Holzer’s work was once examined in tales “about as far from factuality as you that can measure cold spots”—a method the Journal of the Society for Psychical can go” (Holzer 1968, 10). Such antics he noted that “really is bullshit” (2005). Research (December 1970). He had set the stage for Holzer to become not His own “scientific” approach was at taken two mediums to a reputedly the scientific “parapsychologist” he least as bogus. He took along an alleged haunted house, where they made certain posed as but one of the most successful “medium” who, after getting “impres- pronouncements: raconteurs of “true” hauntings. sions” and supposedly going into a They identified the ghost as Nell After a brief career as associate editor trance, invariably claimed to substantiate Gwyn and gave the cause of the of a “scientific” antiquities magazine, he the haunting, sometimes even letting the haunting as the murder of one of her became a freelance writer and—by lovers on orders from Charles II who alleged spirit speak using her vocal cords. about 1951—a ghost hunter (Holzer had given the house to her. She was Holzer’s most famous case was the supposed to have acted at the adja- 1963, 14–15, 211). Of uncertain date, “Amityville Horror,” in which he relied cent Royalty Theatre. It was also his alleged doctorate in parapsychology on a reputed medium named Ethel stated that the house had formerly was from what The Daily Telegraph in housed the Royal Stables. Johnson Meyers and wrote several books London (May 4, 2009) called “an elu- on the subject. Meyers asserted that the Unfortunately, however, sive London College of Applied Science house—wherein Ronald DeFeo mur- (not, it appears, London, England).” The JSPR article reveals that just dered his parents and siblings—had Holzer (1963, 10) stated: about everything the mediums said been built atop an ancient Shinnecock was incorrect, the house not having I am a professional investigator of Indian burial ground and was haunted been built until after Nell Gwyn’s ghosts, haunted houses, and other by the angry spirit of Chief “Rolling death, the theatre not having been “spontaneous” phenomena, to use the built until about 150 years later, and scientific term—that is, anything of a Thunder.” In fact, the Amityville the Royal Stables never having been supernormal nature, not fully ex- Historical Society could find no connec- located anywhere near the site. plained by orthodox happenings, and tion between the site and Native “Whatever may be the truth about the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September / October 2009 5 SI Sept/Oct 2009 pgs 7/22/09 2:14 PM Page 6 NEWS AND COMMENT ESP investigations carried out by Mr. that the house was haunted. He had munication is as bogus as those that Holzer, his treatment of his historical never seen anything of a paranormal emanated from Holzer on this side? sources is so unsatisfactory, on the evi- nature about the house and insisted, “I dence of this case, as to cast consider- Acknowledgments able doubt on the objectivity and reli- don’t believe in ghosts.” He emphati- ability of his work as a whole.” (quoted cally discounted the Meyers/Holzer I am grateful to CFI Libraries director in Berger and Berger 1991, 183) claim that Mrs. Erskine mistreated a ser- Timothy Binga and librarian Lisa Nolan for their research assistance. I reached a similar opinion of Holzer’s vant—whether named “Jeremiah” or work, especially after I reinvestigated his not. He observed that the present house References claims regarding Ringwood Manor in was never seen by Mrs. Erskine. In fact, Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. 1991. The northern New Jersey. Holzer had arrived he added, “the area of the house isn’t Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical even near the location of the original Research. New York: Paragon House. at Ringwood with Ethel Johnson Meyers Grimes, William. 2009. Hans Holzer, “Amityville” in tow. There she supposedly made con- house!” (quoted in Nickell 1995, 62). writer, dies. New York Times, May 2. Thus when Holzer wrote, “The center “Hans Holzer.” 2009a. Obituary, London Daily tact with the spirits of two former servants Te l e g ra p h , May 4. but without proof that either had ever of the hauntings seems to be what was ———. 2009b. The Economist, May 7. existed. One was said to be responsible for once the area of Mrs. Erskine’s bed- ———. 2009c. Available online at http://en. room” (Holzer 1991, 126), he betrayed wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holzer. Accessed May ghostly footsteps in the house, while the 6, 2009. other, “Jeremiah,” “complained bitterly an utter lack of historical credibility. Holzer, Hans. 1963. Ghost Hunter. New York: Ace about his mistress,” Mrs. Robert Books. From Beyond? ———. 1968. Psychic Investigator. New York: Erskine. Of the latter, Holzer stated: Hawthorn Books. “The ghost lady whose manor we were Holzer was a skeptic of religion, much ———. 1971. Haunted House Album: A Ghostly visiting was not too pleased with our of which he termed “man made,” Register of the World’s Most Frightening Haunted although he advocated having “a spiri- Houses. New York: Dorset Press. presence. Through the mouth of the ———. 1979. Murder in Amityville. New York: medium in trance, she told us several tual concept of life” and, of course, Tower Publications. times to get off her property! She may believed in “the other side.” From there, ———. 1991. America’s Haunted Houses. Stamford, according to one of his two daughters Connecticut: Longmeadow Press. still be there,” Holzer added glibly, “for ———. 2005. Interview by Jeff Belanger, February all I know” (Holzer 1991, 125). (possibly Alexandra, who fancies she is 7. Available online at www.ghostvillage- When I visited Ringwood in 1993, I psychic), Holzer communicated soon .com/legends35_02072005.shtml; accessed May after his death on April 26. He report- 6, 2009. found the curator, Elbertus Prol, Nickell, Joe. 1995. Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, annoyed with Holzer’s account. As a edly sent “his heartfelt ‘thanks’” to and Other Alien Beings. Amherst, N.Y.: senior historic preservation specialist London’s The Daily Telegraph (“Hans Prometheus Books. ———. 2004. The Mystery Chronicles: More Real- who had been at Ringwood for a quar- Holzer” 2009a) in anticipation of his Life X-Files. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of ter of a century, Prol discounted claims obituary. But what if that alleged com- Kentucky. Skeptic’s Web Site Becomes Advertising for Psychic Business In October, a Hollywood-based Web In early 2007 Lancaster’s Web site the name Sylvia Browne. Lancaster’s site selling psychic consultations and broke the story of Browne’s failed Shawn attorney replied, in part: “There is simply other products acquired a notable skep- Hornbeck prediction in which Browne no place in a free society for the suppres- tic’s Web site while he recovered from a told the parents of the missing child he sion of dissent about a subject of public stroke.