🔗 Share this article

"People refer to this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath creating wisps of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless individuals have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." This expert is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But rest assured," he states, facing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a small area home to locally rare oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius recounts some of the traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a day, her attire shy of the smallest trace of soil.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report seeing strange rashes on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil cause their unusual development.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours permit guests to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO images, he passes his guest an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most powerful section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The plants suddenly stop dead as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is very thin."