🔗 Share this article

"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation producing puffs of vapor in the cold night air. "So many visitors have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." The guide is guiding a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here go back a long time – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, traditional medicine people, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a few hectares home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide describes some of the traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings vary from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours enable guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the trees where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO pictures, he passes his guest an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful section of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's famous character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building perched on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – appears solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the line between fact and fiction is extremely fine."