Hans Holzer (1920-2009) by Thelma of LIPRI

Dr. Hans Holzer was born on January 26, 1920 in Vienna, Austria. He first became interested in the supernatural when his uncle Henry would tell him some ghost stories. Before moving to New York in 1938, he studied Archeology and Ancient History at the University of Vienna. When he settled into NYC, he pursued his true love which was writing plays for theaters which also led to writing documentaries, movies and screenplays. When that career path was short lived, he returned to his academics and earned his degree in Comparative Religion and a Parapsychology doctorate.

He then was offered the opportunity to teach Parapsychology and Biblical Archeology at the New York Institute of Technology. It was during this time that his interest in the paranormal resurfaced which then led to traveling to different haunted houses and locations to investigate claims of paranormal claims. During this time inspired his first book in 1963 called “Ghost Hunter.” He considered himself a “scientific investigator of the paranormal”, strongly believed in reincarnation, the afterlife and was also a big promoter of Witchcraft and Wicca. In the 1960’s and 70’s he wrote several books on Paganism which helped pave the way for new seekers to search out resources for these beliefs.

Through the years he wrote many books on the Occult and Supernatural along with having been involved with some of the top mediums and researchers in the field. He was even dubbed “Father Paranormal” by a popular press. Dr. Holzer preferred to use the simple techniques to investigate; a trance medium, a pen, notebook and an audio cassette recorder. He found this to be the most effective way to document paranormal occurrences.

In 1977, he investigated the Amityville Horror house with world renowned trance medium, Ethel Johnson-Meyer. This is the previous home of the notorious Defeo murders. In 1974 Ronald Defeo murdered his family while they slept and claimed that the evil forces in the home made him do it. The following year, George and Kathy Lutz moved in with their family and moved out after 28 days claiming evil forces drove them out. Dr Holzer and Ethel Johnson Meyer investigated the home where she claimed to have made contact with the entity which was the restless spirit of a former Native American chief. He went on to write a book about this case called “The Amityville Curse” and “The Secret of Amityville”.

In his career span which lasted over 5 decades, he has investigated hundreds of haunted places around the world and has written over 150 books ranging from extraterrestrials to ghosts. On April 26, 2009, Dr Holzer passed away peacefully in his NYC loft. He is survived by his 2 daughters Nadine Holzer- Widener and Alexandra Holzer. Alexandra is following in her father’s footsteps as a respected writer, spiritual consultant, paranormal researcher and investigator. The paranormal community has lost a true pioneer but his legacy lives and will forever be remembered through all of his work.