Ghostbusters ｡ Jane Foster

1 - REESTABLISHING THE TEAM

Ever since he was a little boy, Henry Venkman's entire life has revolved around the paranormal. His fascination with the afterlife and those that lived within it began when he was eight-years-old and when his grandfather, Arthur Venkman, used to sit him down on his knee and tell him stories about what his father, Dr. Peter Venkman, used to do back in the day; fight ghosts and protect the town from poltergeists alongside his rag-tag group of genius misfits infamously known as the Ghostbusters. They were pretty popular, at least according to Henry's grandfather. But no matter how times they saved Hawkins from a ghost attack, the town never believed them. Everyone claimed the Ghostbusters belonged in an asylum because they believed that ghosts and an afterlife exist. But Henry shared no one else's thoughts or opinions. He believed every word his grandfather told him. And his belief grew tenfold when he was eleven and he saw his first ghost.

It was storming out, so neither Henry nor his little sister Leigh could go outside to play. Their grandmother Anne had taken them both to the library so they could pick out a new book to read while she worked. As he walked through the aisles, fingers skimming over the spines and trying to find a book to read, Henry saw it. A puppy, small and cute with floppy ears with his tongue sticking out on one side of his mouth. Henry bent down to pet the puppy, but it changed into an enormous dog the moment he went to pat it's head. It grew so tall that its head dented the ceiling in and it made him scream. And he had never been more scared in his entire life. His grandmother found him on the floor, and even though he told her what had happened, she claimed that there was no giant puppy in the library and that he must've imagined it with all the silly stories his grandfather tells him. But Henry knew what he saw wasn't his imagination and that he had just had his first of what would be many encounters with a ghost.

After his encounter at the library, Henry devoted his entire life to studying the paranormal. He knew it was his calling, just like his idol and great grandfather, Peter Venkman. By high school, people were making fun of him. They called him a Kook and said that he belonged in a nuthouse with the rest of his family, but Henry never gave them the time of day. He learned to throw every insult over his shoulder and move on, because one day, however long it may take, he was going to prove them wrong. He was going to prove that the paranormal existed, even if that meant losing contact with his family over the years.

His parents never believed the stories that his grandfather used to tell both him and his sister. In fact, after a while, their parents told their grandfather to either stop feeding them stories about ghosts because he was poisoning their young minds and manipulating them into believing such things existed, or to stay away from them for good. Of course, Arthur Venkman wanted to have his grandchildren in his life, so agreed that he wouldn't talk about the Ghostbusters ever again.

After Henry graduated college, both himself and his best friend, Reed Stantz ─ whose great grandfather was also an infamous Ghostbuster back in the day ─ published a book together. The book was about both their families and the stories that they were told as children as well, as their first encounters with the paranormal and the first time they went ghost hunting at an old haunted house in Hawkins. And when the books hit the shelves, that is when Henry Venkman lost his family.

His mother, Shelley Venkman, was more than disappointed. She had hoped that her son wouldn't waste his life studying something that didn't exist. When the woman went to the store and saw his book sitting their on the shelf, the book that she warned him not to write, Shelley disowned him then and there. A part of her would always care though. He was her first born, her only son, and she would always love him. But she couldn't deal with his antics any longer, so the very next time that she saw her son, Shelley screamed at him, told him to stay away for good, and left him standing on the front lawn on his childhood home with a broken heart and tears in his eyes.