🔗 Share this article

"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating clouds of condensation in the cold evening air. "Numerous individuals have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO suspended above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But rest assured," he states, turning to the visitor with a grin. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, called the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares housing locally rare oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various folk tales and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story describes a young child disappearing during a group gathering, only to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals state seeing strange rashes on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – appears tangible and comprehensible in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."