🔗 Share this article

"People refer to this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, some say it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is guiding a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a UFO floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Except for a limited section home to regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of the events, without aging a single day, her garments shy of the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories detail mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been given to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil cause their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours enable participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the trees where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most powerful area of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The trees abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."