"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath forming wisps of vapor in the cold dusk atmosphere. "So many people have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.
Hundreds of Years of Enigma
Reports of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.
Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, facing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."
In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.
Contemporary Dangers
It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.
Except for a small area containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the company he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.
Spooky Experiences
As twigs and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius recounts some of the folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.
- A well-known account tells of a young child disappearing during a group gathering, later to return five years later with no memory of the events, without aging a moment, her garments without the smallest trace of dirt.
- Frequent accounts detail smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
- Reactions include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
- Certain individuals report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.
Research Efforts
Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are vegetation whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.
Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth explain their strange formation.
But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.
The Notorious Meadow
The expert's walks enable visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he passes his guest an ghost-hunting device which measures energy patterns.
"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."
The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of people.
Fact Versus Fiction
This part of Romania is a place which fuels fantasy, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten nearby villages.
The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".
But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a nexus for fantasy projection.
"Within this forest," Marius states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."
