🔗 Share this article Delving into the World's Most Haunted Grove: Twisted Trees, Flying Saucers and Eerie Tales in Transylvania. "Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation producing clouds of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a traveler on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. A Long History of the Unexplained Stories of unusual events here date back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object hovering above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest. Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, addressing the traveler with a grin. "Our tours have a 100% return rate." In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest. Current Risks Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest 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 Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for permission to clear the trees to build apartment blocks. Aside from a limited section home to locally rare oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction. Chilling Events When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here. A popular tale tells of a young child disappearing during a family picnic, later to rematerialise half a decade later with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of soil. Regular stories explain mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside. Reactions range from absolute fear to states of ecstasy. Various visitors claim noticing unusual marks on their skin, perceiving ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being sure they are alone. Study Attempts While many of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there is much before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms. Different theories have been suggested to account for the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground cause their strange formation. But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence. The Famous Clearing Marius's walks enable visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an EMF meter which measures EMF readings. "We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something." The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the result of human hands. Between Reality and Imagination Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations. The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home". But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection. "In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."