🔗 Share this article

"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation creating puffs of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here date back a long time – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the visitor with a smile. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area home to locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes numerous local legends and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, only to rematerialise five years later with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals report observing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the soil explain their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours allow participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the result of human hands.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – appears tangible and comprehensible in contrast to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for factors radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."