Hoku Tamanochi was a Japanese occultist who used ancient Japanese formulas and his family’s traditional skills to exorcise the ghosts in San Francisco. Hoku sprays the ghosts with an ancient Japanese powder when he finds them; this turns them semi-solid, and he then uses a bellows to capture them. He then seals them in bottles, thus permanently trapping them. Hoku reluctantly teams up with a friend (unnamed), but that friend then attempts to horn in on Hoku’s business, using the same methods, and makes an additional profit by using radium to reconstitute ghosts. Eventually, this gets his partner in trouble and Hoku is forced to save him.
| Alias Ghost Extinguisher |
| Real Names/Alt Names Hoku Tamanochi |
| Characteristics Monster Hunter, Ghost-themed, Occult, Belle Époque |
| Creators/Key Contributors Gelett Burgess |
| First Appearance “The Ghost-Extinguisher”, Cosmopolitan Magazine (April 1905) |
| First Publisher Hearst Corporation |
| Appearance List “The Ghost-Extinguisher”, Cosmopolitan Magazine; Humorous Ghost Stories (reprinted, 1921) |
| Sample Read Cosmopolitan (April 1905) [Hathi] |
| Description Hoku Tamanochi was a Japanese occultist who used ancient Japanese formulas and his family’s traditional skills to exorcise the ghosts in San Francisco. Hoku sprays the ghosts with an ancient Japanese powder when he finds them; this turns them semi-solid, and he then uses a bellows to capture them. He then seals them in bottles, thus permanently trapping them. Hoku reluctantly teams up with a friend (unnamed), but that friend then attempts to horn in on Hoku’s business, using the same methods, and makes an additional profit by using radium to reconstitute ghosts. Eventually, this gets his partner in trouble and Hoku is forced to save him. |
| Source Ghost Exterminator – Public Domain Super Heroes Wiki |


