I finished the rough draft of the first 100 pages of my new novel, Dimensional Shift. The location of this story takes place in dimension 2549, where the Earth is covered with 200 inhabited island nations. There are no large landmasses. Majestic Island is situated where Romania is positioned on our world maps. The island is surrounded by four smaller islands and a large volcano that can be seen in the distance off its southern shore. Due to the volcano’s proximity, the beaches of the island are made of black sand, while the 800-foot statue of the Goddess of Ayahuasca at the entrance of the city is made out of lava rock. Once upon the black sand shores of the island, the denseness of the forest is not easily traveled. The walled city of Majestic, along with the one to four-story buildings, and the soaring castle that is built into the mountains, are all made of glimmering white quartzite stone. The city sparkles in the sunlight, while the crystalline structure of the stone allows the building material to give off a slight glow at night.
My heroine, Aria Chandler is a travel writer and social media influencer, so I could send her anywhere in the world. But I wanted to find a plausible place for Aria to slip through a dimensional gateway. Yes, I used plausible and the ability to travel to another dimension together and I realize how funny that sounds, but I wanted a place filled with myth and legend. I began to research strange phenomena, which led me to the Hoia Baciu Forest. In Dimensional Shift, Aria visits Romania to write an article on Bran Castle. A fellow tourist mentions the Hoia Baciu Forest to her and she sets out to enjoy a long hike in the forest the next day; away from anything vampire-related. The Hoia Baciu Forest is a perfect fit for this story. There’s an oval clearing located in the forest called the Poiana Rotunda where nothing is said to grow. I placed Aria in the forest at the clearing. This well-known place in the woods is believed by some to hold a dimensional portal and where strange things have been said to occur.
The Hoia Baciu Forest is located in Romania, west of the city of Cluj-Napoca. The forest is filled with maple, beech, ash, and elm trees. There’s an abundance of wildlife that includes eagles, bears, and of course, bats. The 617-acre forest is considered one of the world’s most haunted. It’s also referred to as the “Bermuda Triangle of Romania” and the spooky forest. Poiana Rotunda’s lack of natural growth is a contradiction as my research revealed that the clearing is merely a meadow with long grasses and wildflowers, so the growth of flora does occur in the oval clearing. This area of the forest is said to have magnetic properties. There’s another section of the forest known for its crooked trees, which many consider eerie. The trees are twisted wood, which is considered to be so strong that it can’t be cut with an ax.
The Hoia Baciu Forest is a tourist attraction that offers hiking and biking paths as well as guided tours. Legends regarding ghosts, spirits, aliens, and people disappearing from the forest have encouraged many supernatural believers to visit the area. The forest has a reputation for supernatural activity, with UFO sightings reported in the 1970s and 2002. There is a tale about a young girl who disappeared from the forest and returned five years later with no recollection of where she’d been, and there’s a tale about a shepherd and his 200 sheep disappearing from the woods. People visiting the forest describe orbs of light and hearing disembodied voices. Many people flock to the area in the hopes of experiencing the strange phenomena’s or to perform magical rituals.
A special thank you to: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/hoia-baciu-transylvania-haunted-trees-ufo-ghosts-how-to-visit-camping-alex-surducan-marius-a8023136.html, https://hoiabaciuforest.com/truth-about-the-hoia-baciu-forest-an-area-on-earth-created-55000-years-ago-by-atlanta/, https://hoiabaciuforest.com/truth-about-the-hoia-baciu-forest-an-area-on-earth-created-55000-years-ago-by-atlanta/
