Original subtitles

Jess, behind you on the right.

On the right. On the right.

I'm seeing on camera.

I'm seeing on camera.

Did you... Oh, my God, it just [bleep] moved.

It's moving.

[Josh] On this episode of Expedition X...

-Woo! -Watch your head. Oh!

[Josh] My team ventures to Transylvania's

Hoia-Baciu Forest.

[Stefan] And we saw a shadow,

like a small human figure.

[Josh] A place many believe

is the most haunted in the world.

[Jessica] Oh, my Gosh, Phil, there's somebody out here with me.

[Josh] As Phil and Jess return

to the single most terrifying destination

I have ever investigated.

[Phil] I just got goosebumps.

You seriously just heard your name.

[Jessica] Yeah, I just heard somebody say "Jess."

[Josh] They uncover frightening new evidence

that might unlock the answers

to this ancient Romanian mystery.

[Jessica] I saw something walking along

in forest line.

Phil! Phil! Phil, come here.

Come here now.

[screams]

[suspenseful music playing]

Okay. So, I wanna start today by showing you a clip.

-Are you ready? -Okay.

Take a look.

Nothing's in my left shoulder.

-What are you talking about? -I see a light.

I see somebody walking.

[Jessica] Oh, who's that handsome young man?

Yes, it is a much younger version of me.

[woman] Basically, yeah, yeah.

And I am out in the woods here

and we are doing an EVP session.

This is part of the paranormal investigation.

[man] There's a light. What did you see?

-[woman speaking] -And I'm doing an isolation session here

and I'm about to trade out with someone who I think

-will be familiar to you. -[Evan] Thirty minutes.

[Josh] It is...

-[Jessica] Oh, yeah, Evan. -[Phil] Hey, Evan.

Evan B. Stone, our longtime director of photography here.

Yeah. Evan, go for Josh [indistinct]

This maybe... This may sound really weird,

but I'm hearing some...

Copy that. Just stay with it.

Things are about to get very, very strange. Watch this.

-Oh. -Whoa.

So, what happened right then?

He gets blown back by some unseen unknown force.

-So, what-- -Was he okay?

Yes and no. I mean, he got out of there in one piece,

but he was legitimately shaken up.

I mean, crying.

-He was a mess. -Really?

-[Josh] Yes. -Wow.

So, then where exactly

were you guys when this happened?

Transylvania.

Ooh, okay.

This is in Romania.

This is a place called the Hoia-Baciu Forest.

It is a notorious paranormal hotspot.

It is the next place I want you to investigate.

And it is a place that I will never, ever forget.

[Josh] Nestled in the Carpathian Mountains,

Transylvania is known for its mysterious castles

and dark folklore.

Most notably, of course, the legend of Count Dracula,

believed to be based on the real life

of Vlad the Impaler,

a sadistic 15th century prince.

But Vlad is just the tip

of a very bloody paranormal lineage.

While pop culture vampires are most commonly associated

with Romanian moroi,

local lore also swirls around the undead zombie-like

terrors of the strigoi.

Choose your horror and it has origins in Romania.

Tales of these frightening creatures

have evolved over Transylvania's very long

and sometimes violent history.

Fought over by the Romans, Mongols,

Ottomans, Germans,

and Hungarians, it is said the land

of Transylvania is soaked in the blood of conflict.

Many believe all this hostility has led

to strange and dark phenomena.

Legends of witches, monsters, and spirits

all said to stalk Transylvania's sprawling wilderness.

And the Hoia-Baciu Forest

is said to be the most horrific of them all.

The forest's gnarled trees

twist into other worldly shapes

unlike anywhere else in the country.

Legend has it, that's because the entire forest is cursed.

For generations, there had been reports

of disturbing sounds and even sightings of shadow people.

Many believe the secret to solving these mysteries

resides in an area of the forest called the Rotunda,

where trees are reportedly unable to grow.

It's here at the Rotunda

where our disturbing experiences

happened 15 years ago.

The horrors of Hoia have been stuck in my mind,

leaving me obsessed with a single question.

Is this forest truly haunted?

That place seems intense.

Yes, it is intense.

And to show you just how intense,

I've invited the man who was there lurking

in the back, Evan B. Stone.

-Hey. -What's up, buddy?

-Good to see you, man. -Good to see you, man.

-Good to see you. -Yes.

-Thanks for coming in. I appreciate it. -Oh, no worries.

Evan, safe to say you remember your trip

to the Hoia-Baciu Forest?

Oh, yeah.

It changed my life really.

Fourteen years ago, it feels like just yesterday.

This is really the event that made me

believe in paranormal activity.

This wasn't just a feeling. It was physical.

What do you mean by physical?

Like, can you walk us through it, what happened?

I was in an isolation session

where you just stay silent

-and try to experience it. Okay? -Got it.

And at the time, I was skeptic.

25 minutes into the half hour, I felt this wind.

It's almost like a tunnel of wind

coming to shoot at me.

And the last thing I knew,

I was being dragged and my feet were just straight,

and then I just went black.

-[Phil] Whoa. -Yeah.

And then, I woke up.

That's pretty hardcore.

That wasn't even the strangest part.

I felt this itching on my arm.

I pulled back my sleeve

and it was these deep scratch marks in my arm.

Like, deep, like, actual wounds on his arms.

-You were bleeding? -[Josh] Yes.

Yeah. And I still have

the scars today to prove it.

-[Phil] Oh, my God. -And if you guys

are thinking of going there, I'd be prepared.

People always ask me what's the most compelling

paranormal evidence I've ever seen?

-This is it. -Yeah.

You know, I mean, this is a guy

who was not out there looking for ghosts.

Evan is rational.

He's out there to do a job.

And when we came running over and found you

laying on the ground, you were in a terrible state.

We stopped filming.

We brought the cameras up initially,

and then pretty quickly just turned them off

because it was...

It was too much. It was like too real.

And this is the place you wanna send us?

That's right.

A Transylvanian local,

a guy named Alex Surducan reached out to us.

He heard about Evan's experience

and our investigations there.

He says that there is a slew

of new paranormal encounters, new evidence, new witnesses.

So, whatever happened to Evan,

it sounds like it's still happening there.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think that's the point, right?

Like, Evan's experience,

the fact that you had strange vibes there,

and the history, the lore that's in that area,

I mean, it's all very compelling.

This is, I have to say,

even for someone who's skeptically minded,

this is a place that defies an easy explanation.

-Mmm-hmm. -So, head over to Romania,

link up with Alex

and see if you can find some answers.

-Will do. -Okay. We're on it.

[Josh] It's an 11-hour flight from New York City

to Cluj-Napoca,

the unofficial capital of Transylvania.

Today, it's a thriving and diverse city,

but over the centuries,

it's seen more than its share of war,

bloodshed, and violent persecution.

-All right, Jess. -Yeah.

How stoked are you to be here right now?

I'm super stoked.

Seven-year-old goth Jess,

this is definitely dream come true level bucket list

of places to visit.

I mean, it's Transylvania, Count Dracula.

I mean, right where we're walking

is where they would hold witch trials.

Right here, right here?

[Jessica] Right here, right here.

And then, even underneath that,

there's a bunch of ancient ruins

that they've uncovered.

-So, I mean, this place... -Wow.

is just littered with history.

[Josh] Just beyond the limits of this historic

yet cosmopolitan city

sits the darkness of the Hoia-Baciu Forest.

Judging by the bumpiness of the road,

I think we're getting closer to the forest.

I think you're right.

That's what I think is really interesting

is that you go from relatively modern city

to immediate country.

Like, you're having an espresso in a cafe one second,

and then you cross over

and you are hiking through the woods.

You know what I also found really interesting is that

we've investigated some massive,

-massive wilderness areas. -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.

Everything from the Big Thicket

to the Pine Barrens to Peru.

-Yeah. -Hoia-Baciu is only 60 acres.

So, it makes it one of the smaller

forests that we've ever taken on.

If we think of hauntings in lore per area,

this is probably the most concentrated

haunted forest in the world.

[Jessica] What's here?

-Why here? -I don't know,

but I think we're about to get some answers.

I think this is our guy, Alex, right here.

[Jessica] Josh's expert, Alex, asked to meet us

at a remote trail on the outskirts of Hoia-Baciu.

A trained physicist,

Alex has spent the last 15 years of his life

trying to understand the forest.

Welcome Romania. Welcome to Hoia-Baciu Forest.

[Jessica] That is cool.

[Alexandru] The most famous forest in Transylvania.

[Phil] What got you interested in this forest in the first place?

[Alexandru] The stories, of course.

I was in a university,

then I was just curious what's going on here?

Why so many stories? So, I just came here

and in the end, I learned a lot.

I found some weird growing trees.

I found lots of unexplained stuff.

You name it. Paranormal in general.

You name it, it's there.

Why is it getting so many sightings and experiences?

I don't really know exactly why this one,

but it starts with a circle in the forest

where the trees refuse to grow.

[Phil] So, that's the Rotunda we've heard about.

[Alexandru]Yes, the point of Rotunda.

And it still remains a mystery

as far as why the trees don't grow there.

It is a big mystery.

But it is better to ask

the people that actually live near the forest.

We have shepherds even today that are all around the forest

and they do have recent experience

because they spend all their life.

So, there is one right after this hill.

Can you take us over to meet him?

-[Alexandru] Yeah, sure. -Okay. Great.

-Yeah, we'll follow you. -[Phil] Great.

-[Jessica] Let's check out what he has to say. -[Phil] Yeah.

[narrator] Alex takes us to meet Stefan,

a local farmer who had a recent encounter

that left him paralyzed by fear

of what could be hiding in the nearby woods.

[Alexandru speaking foreign language]

-[Stefan speaking foreign language] -Stefan. Stefan.

-Jessica. Nice to meet you. -Phil.

So, can you tell us about your experience

out in the forest over there?

So, one night, we went into the forest

to get some wood.

[indistinct chatter]

[Stefan] For some reason, the chainsaw was not working

and we heard something

and we thought it was somebody

playing tricks on us.

And then, I saw some movement

and we saw a shadow,

like a small human figure.

And the shadowy figure was jumping

from one tree to another,

like hiding and spying.

And we couldn't move from that position until00 a.m.

We were blocked there.

I felt like that thing was stopping us,

like an invisible force.

Oh, well, that behavior of something circling them

and hiding and basically stalking them

does kind of sound like a predatory wolf behavior.

Could it have been a wolf at that time?

No, it definitely was not a wolf.

There were no wolf prints on the ground.

[Jessica] If that's the case with what you experienced,

what is you think you ran into?

I think there are witches that go there by night

to make rituals that might unleash

some kind of demons or something.

Because we heard these screams

very similar to a female screaming.

Did you get the chainsaw to work ever?

After00 a.m., it started without any problems.

[Jessica] I mean, that is really weird

because some people do believe that witching hour

is- 00 or- 00.

-The literal witching hour. -Yeah.

The fact that they put everything on lockdown,

basically, if they were doing something out there,

and then after00, he was able to go through his work.

-So, like-- -It matches up perfectly.

Exactly.

So, this location in the forest,

how far away is it?

It's on the other side

of the forest to the west.

On this GPS map, could you point out where it happened?

[Stefan] Uh-huh.

So, we are here,

so you said to the west?

-It's there. -[Phil] Okay.

[narrator] The location of Stefan's sighting

is too far to reach on foot,

and he's not willing to return to the spot himself.

But he offered us his ATV

to see if we can replicate his encounter

and investigate the area.

-Okay. Perfect. -Perfect.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

[Stefan speaking foreign language]

-[Jessica] You got the GPS? -[Phil] Got it.

All right, Jess.

-All right. -That way.

Stefan's story too, I cannot believe that

that exact time slot that he had his encounter,

and then kind of was released from his encounter,

matches up with the witching hour

that you were researching.

I know. That was really weird.

I was not expecting to hear that at all.

Oh, you know what, there's a road right there.

Right into the forest.

-Let's take that. -All right. Good.

[Jessica] It's like all over the place.

-Whoa. -[Phil] Whoa.

Watch your head. Oh, [bleep].

[Phil] Oh!

Holy... That was sketchy.

And I see what they're saying about the trees,

so many of them have warps.

[Jessica] Yeah.

-[Phil] Hey, Jess. -[Jessica] Yeah.

We are officially in the forest.

Whoa. This place is crazy.

[Phil] It's waiting for us.

[tense music playing]

[Jessica] All right.

[exhales] Do you mind grabbing the chainsaw?

[Phil] Yeah, I got it.

So, yeah.

I think if we go over that ridge line,

we should be right there.

-[Jessica] So, this way? -[Phil] Yeah.

[Jessica] Okay.

[Phil exhales]

[Phil] It's a lot more down trees over here.

This might be where Stefan and the other people come

to harvest wood. Look at this.

-That's pretty fresh. -[Jessica] Yeah, like a log.

[Phil] These are really fresh.

[Jessica] Oh, big time.

There's still sawdust here.

-See that? -Oh, yeah.

So, then this was where he was, huh?

I think this is it.

[Jessica] Whew, this place is creepy.

[Phil] Yeah.

[narrator]After finding the location

where Stefan reported the shadow figure,

we set up for our night's investigation.

[Phil] It's getting dark quick.

[Jessica] Ooh, yeah.

-Get your flashlight out. -[Phil] Yeah.

All right, Jess. So, why do we carry this chainsaw all the way out here?

[Jessica] So, hear me out. I kind of wanna use it as a trigger item.

Stefan said that when he was trying to cut down the tree,

that it shut down,

and that's when that shadow figure appeared

as if a guardian of the forest was watching him.

I wanna try and take this chainsaw,

act as if I'm gonna cut a tree,

and see if we can't bring any shadow figures

to come check us out.

So, you're telling me

you wanna threaten

one of the most haunted forests

in the entire world?

I want a reaction.

I wanna see if anything comes

to check us out and see what we're doing.

Well, I mean, I'll tell you what,

if we're looking for shadow figures,

and I'll take out the low-light cam,

and scan our surroundings,

I guess the only downside that I can see

is the noise of the chainsaw is gonna scare away

probably 90% of the wildlife around here.

But that works in our favor then.

-Why? -Because if a shadow figure shows up,

then we know it's not an animal.

So, it's filtering our results.

[Jessica] Exactly.

-Okay. -So, should we pick a tree?

You're the one who wants to play tricks on the forest,

so I'll let you choose that tree.

-All right. -I'll get the cameras ready.

Okay.

[Phil] Okay, Jess, what are you thinking?

[Jessica] Let's find another one of those twisty trees.

[Phil] What about this one here?

-[Jessica] That's pretty good. -[Phil] It's got some bends.

-[Jessica] Yeah. -[Phil] It's definitely leaning from the bottom.

[Jessica] Yeah.

Cut away.

[chainsaw whirring]

Oh, it just shut off.

-What? -I didn't turn it off.

-[Phil] Are you kidding me? -I didn't...

No, I'm serious. I didn't do that.

[Phil] Is there gas in that thing?

Yeah.

Let's just try it again.

I just think it's super weird that it did

exactly what happened to Stefan.

Like, exactly.

Like, a gun did.

It shouldn't have turned off.

Have you been seeing anything yet,

looking at us through the trees?

-I haven't seen anything. -Yeah. Let me try.

Let me see. I'll flip it with you.

[Phil] Okay.

You know what,

I'm gonna get the FLIR out too.

If there's anything alive out here,

it should have a heat signature.

It's30 right now.

[Jessica] And let's stay out here

till we at least cross over to the witching hour.

[Phil] Okay.

[Jessica] We haven't gone down this way yet.

Let's go down here.

[Phil] Oh, Stefan.

You know what's weird, Jess?

I just turned and thought you were crouched right here.

I did a double take.

I saw you, jacket, hair, everything.

-No, you did not. -100%.

-And then, I turned and you weren't in there. -Like, I was just

-sitting here? -Yeah, sitting right there.

Let's see if there's any heat coming from there.

[Jessica] What?

What?

[Phil] What are you saying?

[Jessica] I just heard somebody say, "Jess."

[Phil] No one said, "Jess."

[man speaking]

-[Jessica] You guys heard that? -[Phil] You heard it?

[man] Oh, yeah.

[man speaking]

-[man] Yeah. -[Phil] You got it on audio?

Yeah.

[Phil] Let's see if there's any heat coming from there.

[man speaking]

[Jessica] What?

[man speaking]

-[Jessica] Yeah. -[Phil] I just got goosebumps.

You seriously just heard your name.

[Jessica] Yeah. I just heard, "Jess."

-[Phil] From where? -[Jessica] Like, "Jess?"

[Phil] From over here?

[Jessica] From over here.

[Phil] I'm checking for anything down there.

[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.

-I'm not kidding. -[Phil] Zero heat signatures.

[Jessica] I heard, like, "Jess?"

[Phil] That's great.

I did not hear, but if you heard it

and they heard it through the audio, then...

kind of crazy.

So, either we're not alone in this forest

or we're not alone in this forest.

[Jessica] I mean, I think we're not alone in this forest.

There's something over there.

[Phil] I just heard some movement.

-[Jessica] Did you hear it? -[Phil] Yeah.

-Some crashing. -[Jessica] Yup.

[Phil] Well... So, we head that way.

Okay.

I feel wretched right now.

Like, I feel sick.

[Phil] Could be jet lag and lack of sleep,

or it could be the woods.

[eerie music playing]

[Phil] Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jess, I got some stuff.

Come here.

What? What am I looking at?

[Phil] I don't know. Do you see that big banding right there?

It's like there's a huge thermal wall.

[Jessica] Oh, weird.

Why is it like that?

It's like there's a border there.

[Phil] It's like there's a big wall.

[Jessica] That's... What the [bleep].

-Never seen that before. -I've never seen that before.

I'm gonna walk over there.

Tell me if you see me go through it.

[Phil] Careful out there, Jess.

[eerie music playing]

[Phil] Looks like it should be just ahead of you.

[Jessica] Okay.

[Phil] So weird.

[Jessica] Am I through it?

Keep going.

Looks like you're just about there.

Can you still see me though?

I can see you.

I think you're in it.

[Jessica] I'm in it?

You don't feel any temperature difference?

No.

What the hell is that border?

[bell ringing]

-I hear a bell ringing. -[Phil] What?

There's a... Shh.

Okay. Stand here.

Be super quiet.

It sounds like there's like a ringing

coming off the left-hand side.

[Jessica] [bleep]. It's gone.

Like, the temperature feels the same over here.

-Yeah, it does. -Turn around and see

if it shows up behind us now.

No.

[Jessica] That's weird.

It's almost like

there was like a barrier.

[Phil] Like, some gradient right here.

And I'm also not feeling good.

-[Phil] Really? -I have a big, big headache.

My chest is on fire.

I just don't feel good.

It just started getting really bad like the last half hour.

I mean, I'm the one that threatened the tree,

so maybe it's focusing on me.

I saw you, you heard your name,

and you're feeling like this?

Yeah.

What time it is?

What time is it?

[Phil] It's25.

[Jessica] Like, it's the witching hour.

And it was right at this time that everything

kind of started to go off.

I mean, I feel wretched right now.

[coughs]

[Phil] Yeah, I think we should try to make sure

we can make a way out of this forest tonight.

-[Phil] Okay. -[Jessica] Yeah.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] The next morning, we connect with Josh

to bring him up to speed on our investigation so far.

-[Jessica] Hey, Josh. -[Phil] Hey, Josh.

Hey.

What's going on?

Is Hoia living up to the hype?

Oh, we've actually had a fair amount

of activity this first night.

I get it. I see why this place

made such an impact on you, Josh.

At one point, I thought I saw

Jess next to me sitting down, facing away.

I saw her hair, saw the same jacket,

only Jess was way over that way

and I saw her over this way.

Wow.

Totally different spot in the woods.

I was nowhere near Phil.

And then, it even picked up a notch from there

where I was walking along

and we were kind of headed into this direction that was,

like, really cluttered with trees.

And I distinctly heard somebody say, "Jess."

And not only did I hear it,

but the crew heard it and we caught it on audio.

[Phil] Let's see if there's any heat coming from there.

[man speaking]

[Jessica] What?

That is incredible.

It sounds like what you're describing

is like the forest playing tricks on you.

That totally lines up to my experiences there.

-[Jessica] Absolutely. -[Phil] Yeah.

And bottom line, it seems like a lot of people

get lost out in the forest.

We felt like we were kind of getting drawn

deeper and deeper into the forest

and got disoriented ourselves.

We also saw this strange wall of heat

on the FLIR right in our path.

The other kind of weird thing

is I checked our GPS route of the direction

that the forest was kind of leading us

and it was basically in a straight line

towards the Rotunda.

Mmm-hmm.

I literally have goosebumps just listening to this

because it's exactly how I felt there.

You know, this unseen...

Almost magnetic force

drawing you toward that big open circle in the forest.

It's like there's something about that place.

And it's obviously what Evan experienced there,

a powerful unseen force.

Look, I think it's obvious you have to go investigate

where that's leading you,

into that Rotunda, that circle, right?

And I think you should do an isolation experiment there.

That's what worked for us all those years ago.

That's where Evan had that insane experience, right?

And you will see,

there is just something about this place.

Now, I've outfitted you guys with more advanced

monitoring equipment than we had back then.

So, hopefully, that will help you get more answers.

And I have a few theories I wanna look into.

One of which is to use ground-penetrating radar

to actually see how deep the bedrock is.

Because if it's shallow bedrock,

then maybe the trees just can't grow there.

That's a great call.

I don't think they'd invented GPR back when I was there,

so definitely check that out.

[Jessica] Yeah. And while Phil is doing that,

I wanna head back into town and see

who I can reach out to that can tell me more

about, like, the folklore and the history of the area,

specifically just 'cause I wanna figure out

kind of on a supernatural angle,

what are we actually dealing with here?

Are we dealing with strigoi? Are we dealing with iele?

Are we dealing with maybe the forest itself

trying to protect itself?

Like, I just wanna try and narrow this down

so I know who to potentially talk to.

[Josh]That sounds great, Jess.

And hey, listen on a... On a serious note,

when you guys do get to that circle in the forest,

be careful, you know? I...

That place is no joke.

I'm wishing you more answers

and less trauma than we experienced, really.

We'll let you know how it goes.

Good luck you guys. Stay safe.

-[Phil] See you, Josh. -[Jessica] Bye, Josh.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Phil] All right. So, somewhere up here

is the Rotunda.

This is where Josh's cameraman had his experience

of getting thrown by something.

And this is where I'm really curious about what's going on

inside the Earth that makes this area where the trees grow

so different than the Rotunda where they do not.

And there it is

right up ahead.

Wow.

I mean, look at this ground right here.

Covered in leaves.

This is the forest

and I take three steps this way.

And all of a sudden, there's just grass everywhere.

I've never seen an environment

where it's so drastic

and it's wild.

What is going on

underneath my feet here?

[narrator] To crack the code

on the secrets of the Rotunda,

I'm meeting two experts in ground-penetrating radar.

Hi.

[narrator]George and Silviu together

have over 3,000 hours of experience

at sites all over Romania.

What I'm really interested in

is what's under the ground here

and what is so different about this spot right here

versus that spot 20 meters away.

[Silviu speaking]

[narrator]This ground-penetrating radar

will scan 16 feet below the Earth

calculating the density of the soil layers.

If it measures any anomalies, voids,

or unusual objects,

we should get an accurate reading

of their shape and size.

[George speaking]

[Phil] All right. Let's hit the center.

-See what we find. -[George] Okay.

[Jessica] I reached out to some of my contacts

in the area and they connected me

with Mihaela Minca,

who is one of Romania's most highly regarded witches.

I'm meeting Mihaela and her coven at a local tea house

where I hope to gain insight into what paranormal forces

might be at play in the Hoia-Baciu forest.

Hello, Mihaela.

-Hello. -[Jessica] Hi.

Witchcraft is common in Romanian culture

with many ordinary Romanians

turning to witches to find love,

acquire money, or to punish their enemies.

[in Portuguese]

In Hoia-Baciu forest, it's known from all times

that it's the most bad spirits

and if you want to hurt someone,

then it's necessary to invoke the bad spirits.

[George speaking foreign language]

[Silviu speaking]

-[Phil] Already? -[Silviu] Already. Yeah.

-Took two steps. -[Silviu] Yeah.

[Phil] And what does he think this anomaly could be?

It could be a cavity,

it could be some different rocks.

So, there could be a cavity...

-[Silviu] Yeah. Yeah. -underground right here?

That's amazing.

And we've only taken about four steps

in the entire Rotunda.

[George speaking foreign language]

Right here?

[George speaking foreign language]

[Silviu] Yeah. He thinks 'cause it's the same

as the area over there,

it could probably be a small cavity

or maybe a small tunnel or something else.

[Phil] Wow.

I mean, to be honest,

these are remarkable results already.

That there could be chambers underneath here.

I think we found something.

Would there be such a thing

as a guardian spirit of the forest

that would try to protect the forest

from the people that are coming in?

[Mihaela] It's possible this thing

because in this situation

started the forest to be like cursed.

Many years ago, there was a beautiful woman

who fell in love with a local shepherd.

But she was from a very wealthy family

who forbid her to be with this man.

One night, the shepherd went searching

for a missing sheep in the Hoia-Baciu forest.

He was lured deeper into the woods

by what he thought was his distressed sheep.

He was never seen again.

The lover was so distraught,

she went to the forest

and hung herself from a crooked tree.

Any person that kills themselves

could become strigoi,

spirits that rise from the grave

and terrorize the village.

In order to break their curse,

you must find the missing bodies

from a long lost cemetery

and destroy them

setting their souls free.

[George] Okay.

[George speaking foreign language]

[Silviu] Another one here.

-[Phil] Okay. Right here. -[Silviu] Yeah, right there.

[George speaking foreign language]

[Phil] Another one right here.

[Silviu] Another one right here. Okay.

So, what's remarkable is that ground-penetrating radar

has never been done here at the Rotunda.

And it seems like we're picking up

a lot of anomalies every five, ten steps,

and it almost looks like it's starting to put up a pattern.

[Silviu] There is another one here.

-[Phil] Another one here? -[Silviu] Yeah.

Same depth, 1.5 meters.

[Phil] It is unusual

how they all seem very evenly spaced apart.

I mean, based on the way this is laid out

and the depth and the distance apart,

do you think this could be a graveyard that we're on?

[tense music playing]

Do you think this could be a graveyard that we're on?

[George speaking foreign language]

[Silviu speaking]

He thinks he needs like a week

to really get into detail

and do everything in detail.

This is not the results I was expecting,

but I think they're even more fascinating

than I could have anticipated.

[woman] So, she will open now the tarot cards for you.

And she will tell you how you will have to be prepared

in your journey when you will go to Hoia-Baciu.

-[Jessica] Okay. -[woman] Your right hand,

-put on the globe, please. -[Jessica] My right hand?

Yeah.

[Mihaela] Jessica...

now with your left hand,

you have to take three cards from the middle of the deck.

[Jessica] Okay.

[Mihaela] Hmm.

By entering Hoia-Baciu on the Rotunda,

you will face the most powerful evil magic.

It is important for you to be prepared.

You must bring a sickle or scythe with you

as it provides protection from dark forces

that wish you harm.

Here is a magical talisman that we prepared for you.

We have done rituals with this amulet.

It will protect you in your journey

and it will bring you luck.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Phil] Get ready for this, Jess.

[Jessica] Okay.

[Phil] We found something.

Underneath the Rotunda?

Multiple some things started popping up.

They look like chambers or stones underground

and in a pattern that went all the way around the perimeter.

-Oh, my God. -[Phil] Yes.

[Jessica] That's huge.

So, then what do you guys think it is?

What did the GPR technician say?

The way those stones were arranged,

it could even be a cemetery up there.

Oh, my God.

-What if it's a cemetery? -Can you believe it?

So, when I met with the witches yesterday...

Yeah.

that actually kind of tracks with what they were telling me

as far as strigoi being in the area.

There very well could be

a strigoi burial

out at the Rotunda.

-That's so frigging cool. -[Phil] Yeah.

So, you think that's why there's no trees

growing in that area

blocked by whatever it was

that was built there?

Possibly or maybe something's leaching out of them.

I still am not quite sure

why nothing is growing there.

[Jessica] That's true, 'cause, like,

there's plenty of graveyards with trees and plants...

-[Phil] Yeah. Yeah. -growing all the time.

So, why wouldn't it grow there

in between the spaces if it was a graveyard?

-I don't know. -That's still...

-That's so weird. What? -It is.

-Why? -I don't know.

Now, I feel like we're just getting more mysteries.

What's underneath the Rotunda?

Why is it keeping plants from growing

or is it even keeping plants from growing?

[Phil] I know. We came here for answers

and we so far just have a lot more questions.

[narrator] We know that paranormal reports

in Hoia-Baciu are most common at night.

So, we head to the Rotunda

to conduct the same isolation experiment,

which forever changed Josh and his cameraman, Evan,

a decade and a half ago.

Welcome to the Rotunda.

[Jessica] Oh, my God.

This is strange.

Like Josh said, why don't we replicate

what he and his team did

when they were just sitting here

self-isolating 30 minutes each?

I've got the bag of equipment he sent us

so we can set everything up.

[narrator]This time, we're equipped

with more advanced tools to monitor the clearing.

We know that Evan says he was sent backwards

by an invisible force

and suffered multiple scratches on his arm

that left him physically scarred.

So, we're rigging an EMF trip wire perimeter

composed of a string of LEDs

connected to individual EMF sensors.

If there's a disturbance in the electromagnetic field,

the lights will turn from purple to red.

We also set up four infrared surveillance cameras

pointing in towards the circle.

[Jessica] It's a pretty good circle.

[narrator] Jess and I will each take our 30-minute turn

at the center of the Rotunda,

armed with a night vision camera

and a walkie to communicate.

-Okay. -What do you think?

What are these bright lights?

Those are actually the IR lights from the cameras

-pointing at each other. -Okay.

So, ignore that and just pay attention

-to the person in the middle? -Yeah.

-Why don't you go up first? -Okay.

Thirty minutes?

-Thirty minutes. -[Phil] Okay.

Heading out.

[dramatic music playing]

Crisscross applesauce, Phil.

For a minute there, I forgot you were watching me.

[Jessica laughs]

Starting timer on my phone.

All right. Going.

Thirty minutes.

Jess, are you moving around over there?

No, I am not.

I'm hearing some movement rustling around me.

I just saw a little light flicker in the forest.

What? Where? Which direction?

You see where I'm pointing? It's right behind that camera.

[Jessica] Yup.

Oh, man.

That IR light's blowing it out. I can't see.

Kill it.

Something just made a little grunt.

I'm watching. I don't see anything moving in the forest.

I think the isolation's starting to get to me.

Every little noise is making me jump.

I think like being alone

out here in the middle of the Rotunda

is not my favorite place to be.

I keep hearing little cracks,

little bits of movement in the forest all around me.

Knowing where we are, the legends about it

and what could be buried underneath me right now,

it's kind of terrifying.

How much time you got left?

Less than one minute now.

[Jessica] Is this us?

Who's this right here?

I saw a little light pop up.

Do you see anything?

[Phil] I see nothing.

All right. My time is up.

My time is up.

Let me grab my bag. I'll come out.

I'm gonna have the recorder going the whole time

just in case something decides to talk to me

through the recorder.

So, right now, Jess is getting set

for her isolation experiment.

Okay. Protection amulet on.

She has a recorder.

She got her scythe.

Scythe is here next to me in the ground.

She's kind of prepared across the board

for anything out there.

And hopefully, if anything does happen,

we will have it on the camera.

All right. I'm about to hit the timer.

Good luck out there.

Thirty minutes starts now.

Is there any spirits here, spirits of the forest?

[Phil] Oh.

Look at the camera. It's showing up.

[Jessica]Spiritual people going by?

Any iele?

That is weird.

Any strigoi?

All these cameras are in IR mode except this one,

just stopped working.

Oh, camera just went down.

Just completely, completely down.

Jess, we just lost the camera.

It's not even that I can't see in the dark.

It's just not connected at all.

Which one?

I guess it's the one with no red lights.

Can you... Can you figure that out?

And we just lost another.

What the [bleep]. They all are still on.

Signal's not reaching here for some reason.

I'm gonna move the antenna, see if that helps.

Are you feeling okay?

I'm scared [bleep] this,

but yeah, I don't feel sick or anything,

if that's what you mean.

How are the EMF lights looking?

Anything changing color?

No, nothing. They're all the same.

This is crazy.

Half of our surveillance system is down right now.

I just heard something walk next to me

on... In the circle.

[Phil] Okay. That, I did not hear.

How close?

Like, woo, right next to me.

Camera's flashing big time.

[Phil] I'm seeing that,

a lot of in and out light right now.

[Jessica] Oh, my [bleep] God.

Are you out here by the camera right in front of me?

[Phil] No. What's happening?

It just moved,

the camera that I'm staring at.

Oh, my God. It [bleep] moved. It's moving.

[Phil] What? What?

Phil, it's moving.

[Phil] What do you mean it's...

Oh, my God. It's [bleep] moving.

I'm not seeing any movement on the screen.

Can you point again to the one that is moving?

[Phil] That is so weird.

Jess, as far as I can tell,

it is not moving at all.

So, what you are seeing is not showing up on video.

Three glowing red lights

that indicate that the camera is on

start to float around.

Jess, since you have two IR cameras,

maybe you should take the one

and aim it towards the camera that you're seeing moving.

That's an excellent idea. Hold on.

Were any of the strigoi moving the camera?

Oh, my God.

Is there anything out here with me right now?

Are you strigoi?

Oh.

Jess, behind you on the right.

On the right. On the right.

I'm seeing on camera. I'm seeing on camera.

[Jessica] Oh, my God.

Phil, there's somebody out here with me.

[screams]

[suspenseful music playing]

The forests of Romania

are filled with stories of mythical creatures.

The most infamous is Muma Padurii.

Her name, literally meaning mother of the forest.

She appears sometimes as a beautiful young woman

and sometimes is an old crone

with tree bark for skin.

This shapeshifter cares for the forest and its creatures

and protects it violently from any trespassers.

This is said to be particularly true for kids.

If Muma Padurii catches errant children

wandering her forest,

she won't hesitate to boil them in her soup.

Muma was the inspiration

for the tale of Hansel and Gretel.

There's no gingerbread house in the original,

but its ultimate lesson is the same.

Children should never stray where they don't belong.

Sleep well, kids.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Phil] Jess.

[Jessica] Dude. Dude. Dude.

I saw somebody walking along the forest line.

Is there anything over there right now?

[Phil] It is complete dead zone back there.

I'm not seeing anything on the FLIR.

I don't... Oh.

All of our crew was over by me.

No one was over here.

Nobody was over here.

So...

I think we need to go into the forest

and figure out what the heck was over there.

[Jessica] I mean, let's go look for footprints, I guess.

I'm bringing the scythe.

So, it would be right over here, this area.

[Phil] This area.

This is so weird.

I'm trying to see if there's any hotspots at all.

[Jessica] Are you getting anything?

Getting nothing.

I distinctly saw

a dark figure walk through the trees.

I almost wouldn't believe you

and just say that it was your eyes

playing tricks on you, but I saw it on the video,

whatever that was.

Jess, behind you on the right.

On the right. On the right.

[Jessica] Okay.

I think there's something out here.

What time is it?

It is04.

I think we should just keep our gear out

and just wait it out, see what happens.

Let's get our stuff back up and running if we can.

-Let's keep it going. -Okay.

[Josh]My team scoured the woods

with thermal imaging cameras until morning.

But whatever they saw

lurking at the edge of the Rotunda

did not emit any detectable heat signature,

considering the uncanny similarity

to recent eyewitness testimony.

And we saw a shadow,

like a small human figure.

[Josh] It appears that this shadow figure phenomenon

could be deeply connected to the Hoia-Baciu Forest.

But that's not all we found.

[Phil] The camera behind you

to your left is blinking.

It just keeps blinking on and off.

Yeah. I see it too.

[Josh] It wasn't the first time we received

what seemed like visual feedback from the forest,

the thermal wall my team encountered

on the first night of the investigation.

Can you still see me though?

[Phil] I think you're in it.

[Josh]Served as an inexplicable visual marker

of the Rotunda's perimeter.

Some might say it seemed to be guiding them

directly toward the Rotunda

or from another point of view,

warding off those who dare enter it.

[Jessica] My chest is on fire.

I just don't feel good.

It's just started getting really bad

like the last half hour.

[Josh] And as they approached the Rotunda,

both Phil and Jess experienced unexplained sounds.

See if there's any heat coming from there.

[Jessica] What?

[Josh] Hallucinations.

You know what's weird, Jess?

I just turned and thought you were crouched right here,

did a double take.

[Josh] And bizarre equipment failures.

[chainsaw buzzing]

It just shut off.

[Josh] Phil returned to the circle

to collect a soil sample,

hoping it would reveal some clues.

The analysis yielded normal results,

which only corroborates what my team found 15 years ago.

[George speaking foreign language]

-[Silviu] One here. -Here. Yeah.

[Josh] But things got interesting

when our ground-penetrating radar specialists

sent us their final report.

They unveiled a mystifying grid pattern

that appeared to be unseen voids beneath the earth.

These mysterious anomalies

were uniformly spaced

and at an identical depth.

Although we couldn't excavate the Earth

to definitively prove Phil's theory

of an ancient graveyard...

[Jessica] I think there's something out here.

[Josh] We came across a centuries old map of the region,

which clearly shows the existence

of the exact same circle,

suggesting that whatever force

is stopping the trees from growing there

has been doing so for ages.

[Phil] I just got goosebumps.

[Josh] My team's journey through the forest

and their subterranean research at the Rotunda

has only cemented Hoia-Baciu's legacy

as an epicenter for unseen forces

and one of the strangest places we've ever set foot.

[Jessica] Phil. Phil. Phil, come here.

Come here now.

[screams]