27 May 2009,
Hans Holzer, perhaps the greatest 'ghost hunter' of our times, left recently to join his equally famous ghost hunting uncle Henry on the other side.
And now, reports say, Americans fear that Hans might cross over to this side to hunt and haunt them.
Hans got deep into the business of ghost hunting in his childhood. He had a strange affinity for his uncle and would follow him around. His uncle, Henry, could, supposedly, contact people who had bid adieu to this world long ago.
Though Henry was basically a petty shop assistant in Vienna, his interest was in passing on to his nephew all that he could hear from the fairies in the trees and bushes.
Hans was just a toddler of three when his uncle taught him the art of seeing and listening to those on the other side. The story goes that uncle Henry did not rest in peace even after his death. He somehow managed to talk to his nephew through a British medium. Initially, the British medium doubted that it was really Henry, but he was eventually convinced when Henry provided proof after proof. One such was: "Tell the boy that the dog's name is Rigo."
Hans had no interests other than reading and researching ghost stories after his uncle passed away. And this 'knowledge' led to him writing a mind-boggling 140 books, all about the scary ghost world. The first book of his ghostly world to hit the stands was when he was 43.
There was no looking back after that in his ghost churning exercise. Mind you, while releasing his first book he made it be known that he had a doctorate in parapsychology, and hence had a grip over the world beyond. No wonder then that he preferred people to address him as Prof or Dr Hans.
During one of his talks, he said that ghosts were as normal and natural as you and me, with the only small difference being that they were not aware that they were dead. They had lost their bodies but not their sensitive inner selves, Hans thought. Perhaps they were trapped in the world of 'here' and 'there' and had not been able to get rid of their emotional turmoil and worldly entanglements. Hans passed away last month, at 89. Hans is dead, long live Hans!
