Transcript
Lee Hatfield: Hello everybody and welcome to the Paranormal Prism. This has been renamed from SIPA Paranormal Chronicles. The Paranormal Prism is where we explain, explore the unknown, we hear real stories, we examine real evidence and we speak with real people.
Lee Hatfield: Today I'm absolutely delighted to be joined by Emilian Isayla, I hope I've said that correct, Emilian is the founder of the Vlad the Impaler Facebook page.
Lee Hatfield: He's a travel guide. He's also the founder of romaniatraveltips.com, and he promotes everything Romanian. Emilian, buona ziua, buona vinit.
Emilian: zwa
Lee Hatfield: I hope I've said that correct.
Emilian: Thank you so much. Yeah, it's good,
Lee Hatfield: See? Do the welcome in Romanian. There we go.
Emilian: junna ziwa
Lee Hatfield: See,
Emilian: bunna ziwa turo hello everyone
Lee Hatfield: so
Lee Hatfield: say it' we're having a cultural episode today.
Lee Hatfield: So, Emilian, before we get started, can you tell people a little bit about yourself, please?
Emilian: of course my name is Emelian Sayl I live in Romania in Transylvania area in Turgumuresh
Emilian: I'm the founder yes always say before of Vlad the Impair a Facebook page where we have one hundred seventy five k followers with the the Facebook group with the same name has 71k followers
Emilian: Romania the Fairy Tearland Facebook page we have almost 40k followers and of course romaniatavoltips.com website now it's so 30k visitors every month you that it's a guide website you can you can see you can find there all the answers for a somebody who want to move in Romania who visit Romania and oh turn more
Lee Hatfield: It sounds like you could be extremely busy with all these followers then.
Emilian: Yes, yes, yes. Very busy. They ask me a lot of questions every day. it's i don't know, maybe every day like 20 people, 30 people like that.
Emilian: They ask me questions about Romania, about haunted places in Romania, about the how is the life in Romania?
Emilian: They want to move here. How is the cost of living in Romania? Yes, many many many Europeans from the history of Europe, they want to move to Romania now.
Lee Hatfield: Yeah. So the the reason why I'm talking to you today is Romania has one of the most haunted locations in the world.
Lee Hatfield: And I've actually got a a very good friend who's from Romania and they had never heard of it. So they're no longer my friend. because But a location...
Emilian: Because of that. Because of.
Lee Hatfield: yeah But the location that I'm talking about is the Hoia Batu Forest.
Emilian: How much photos? Why I?
Lee Hatfield: So I'm not going to try to pronounce the location of where it's from, but it's in Transylvania.
Lee Hatfield: So let's start with there then. How did you first get interested with the Hoia Batu Forest?
Emilian: Actually, first time hear the i heard about this forest on the internet. And I was very curious to explore.
Emilian: Oh my God, and I was there. I was preparing a trip there, me and one friend of mine.
Emilian: He was going there to the midnight. If you want to visit the Hoia Baciu Forest, you want to you need to go there in the midnight because so you will feel all the strange things, everything weird, you will feel on the midnight, on the... the towers.
Lee Hatfield: how far oh How far away is the forest to where you live?
Emilian: Uh... Like one hour by car.
Lee Hatfield: Okay.
Emilian: One hour.
Lee Hatfield: startur so
Emilian: It's not so far. In the Transylvania area, you can go very quick.
Lee Hatfield: okay
Emilian: For me.
Lee Hatfield: So how long, this may be a difficult question, but how long has the Hoi Bachi forest been a mystery?
Emilian: but me
Lee Hatfield: four for Romania.
Emilian: for Romania from the first first legend they are I heard about the first legend since the communist regime.
Emilian: communist regime was taking place in Romania since after the World War II. That was the first time when the people hear about locals, when the locals hear about the
Lee Hatfield: Now, yeah, so there's, i've seen I've seen a couple of documentaries about the forest, but what's your personal experiences with the forest?
Emilian: it's
Emilian: It's like, a you know, you must feel it on your own skin. But I was there in the day of night. It was very fun. The trees, i many of the trees so like are like spirals. For real.
Emilian: They are like spirals.
Emilian: I was with me and one friend with the flashlights in the middle.
Emilian: When you enter in the forest and somewhere to the middle of the forest there is a circle.
Emilian: it's a
Emilian: like I don't know nothing grows there in the middle is forest around and in the middle it's a the circle with no trees we know trees with no grass with anything
Emilian: in that area you know you even though you don't have signal to the phone signal to the phone will disappear
Emilian: they say the people said the legends say that is the area where ufo landing ufo landing there so it's a very strange area i i was feeling don't know when i was there and i was going i was arrived there in that circle i was feeling that I will never come back home anymore.
Emilian: This is the truth.
Lee Hatfield: Wow.
Emilian: This is the truth.
Lee Hatfield: Did you did you feel like sorry did you feel like you were being watched, yeah that kind of sensation?
Emilian: It's very, very, very, very.
Emilian: Yes. Yes. Yes. And the yo you feel very, very stressed because you cannot contact anyone anymore.
Emilian: in You lose your signal. And this was happened to all the people who who was going to that area. No signal, nothing.
Emilian: And the you're very close to the city. The Klužná Poka, the most near city, just minutes minutes away.
Emilian: It's not far. But yeah, this is what happened. You feel like in the middle of nowhere.
Lee Hatfield: Wow.
Lee Hatfield: And you mentioned a few minutes ago about UFO sightings. What kind of sightings have been occurring there?
Emilian: I hear the stories from the old people there. they was sir They told me the locals told me that
Emilian: in the communist regime, when they were was going to the forest to take the wood to make to hit their house because they they are o nearby there is a village and people they take wood from there to to heat their house in the communist time and they tell me they see for real
Emilian: UFOs and aliens
Emilian: landing there. And don't know, it' very it's very frightening. You, you, you, know I don't know. The story is very sensitive.
Emilian: The people
Emilian: told me that
Emilian: aliens, they take other people from there in the ship. li I don't know if it's true or not, but this is the story from the locals.
Emilian: Now in the in the last years, so the young generation didn't, did not see these things anymore. But the place,
Emilian: the place is very frightening it's very... I don't know how to... very paranormal that place
Lee Hatfield: So the the people, the youth of today kind of treat it like a cool place, but the elder generation are scared to go there.
Emilian: everybody is scared to go there the you cannot go there alone first
Emilian: If you go there alone, it's... I don't know.
Emilian: I don't know how you can come back anymore. This is the truth. This is...
Lee Hatfield: I will let you know.
Emilian: yeah You're the next, no?
Lee Hatfield: Yeah.
Emilian: You're the next one.
Lee Hatfield: Yeah. felt like yeah So yeah this guy turned up and he he went into the forest and he never came back. So one thing that's strange about the forest is the the trees are are bent in strange shapes.
Emilian: Yes. It's very... I don't know. I never see another forest. I was in many forests in my life.
Emilian: I never saw this kind of spirals, trees anymore in any forest. It's very weird.
Lee Hatfield: It's...
Emilian: And i don't I don't have any explanation for that.
Lee Hatfield: Well, I think if you had an explanation, you could make yourself a lot of money.
Lee Hatfield: So you mentioned about the locals being being scared of this area, but there have been reports of people disappearing, as you mentioned earlier.
Emilian: Yes. Yes.
Lee Hatfield: so yep Everybody knows folklore and everybody knows that these stories are created. So is there any concrete evidence to prove that these people actually disappeared?
Emilian: The only concluded evidence, it's about the conclusion
Emilian: but it's from the communist time.
Lee Hatfield: right
Emilian: when When the shipper with the ships was disappeared there. It was a shipper with the 200 ships. that I heard this about many different locals.
Emilian: And the they say the one man with the ships, he was go there, 200 ships and the man disappeared in that forest.
Emilian: I don't know how it's possible or not, but they say many different people say this.
Lee Hatfield: Is there, well, I won know there is because i' I'm reading about it, but there's also a story about a five-year-old child.
Emilian: About a five years old child, don't know if if it's true or not.
Lee Hatfield: Okay.
Emilian: What kind of story?
Lee Hatfield: So apparently she she disappeared, but then came back a few years later, but was still exactly the same age and still the same clothes.
Emilian: I heard another version, but girl, it was a girl, five years old.
Emilian: and she's going to forest with her father.
Emilian: And I don't know she plays, she's going around. They they was like, i don't know, collecting the mushrooms, mushrooms in the in the the forest.
Lee Hatfield: Yeah, yeah.
Emilian: Many, many people are going to forest, they go like mushrooms like that. And the the girl is up here. She goes far away from her father and she's up here.
Emilian: know what happened. if
Emilian: You know, in the in the places, in the forests of Transylvania now, in this time, there are many beers too.
Emilian: It's full of beers.
Lee Hatfield: Right.
Emilian: ivan Even the Hoia Bache forest. So things can happen. But yes.
Emilian: I heard she was disappeared and they did not find her anymore.
Lee Hatfield: Do we have a kind of time period of when this was?
Emilian: I must do a research and I will tell you. I will tell you about this for audio you
Lee Hatfield: So being a a local, shall we say, and you've been to the forest,
Lee Hatfield: can you explain or understand why that forest has got that reputation of being one of the most haunted locations in the world?
Emilian: Yes, because of that area, that circle, that that circle is a like it's a cursed, that is a curse, it's paranormal circle in the middle of the forest.
Emilian: That is, and I believe that it's an area where, I believe this story about the, that it's a place where have full landing in the past, because it's too much, it's too much strange.
Emilian: in the middle of the forest, nothing grows, no grass, no trees, you lose your signal on the phone and the you feel every step that somebody is watching you.
Emilian: Yes.
Lee Hatfield: so So when you say that you lose your signal, is that just in that central area, of the rotunda, or is it when you enter the forest?
Emilian: When you enter, when you enter in that area, in the circle, when you enter, you lose already your signal to the phone.
Lee Hatfield: Now, because you've done your research, is there any history of, what how can I put it, like people doing rituals or any any any bad kind of like entities, that kind of stuff?
Emilian: Not in Hoya Bache Forest, there is a outer forest haunted where the witches are gathering every year, but we can talk about that too.
Emilian: it's It's the forest, it's a forest near Bucharest, near capital city. is Its name is Bolducrețeasca Forest. And it's a small lake, like the name is The Witch's Pond, is the place where Vlad the Impaler died.
Emilian: That's exactly the place where Vlad the Impaler died. And in that forest, witches gather every year and they make rituals.
Lee Hatfield: And when when are you taking me there?
Emilian: Tonight. Tonight.
Lee Hatfield: Okay.
Emilian: Tonight. That I know for sure that it's it's a place where witches gather every year. I have pictures, it's they make rituals there.
Emilian: That is not to just tourist.
Lee Hatfield: So the fact that you mentioned about the witches, is there a lot of this kind of folklore in Romania?
Emilian: Yes, and especially
Emilian: the Gypsy Witchers, the Gypsy. They make a all kinds of rituals. da They read your destiny in the cards.
Emilian: They make all kinds of rituals like cursed, like, I know, people go to them when they feel they are cursed.
Emilian: where they feel that somebody cursed them and them they make a ritual to to take out the curse.
Lee Hatfield: So that tells me that they are good people or bad people. If they're removing a curse, then that would make them good witches per se.
Emilian: I never was to them.
Emilian: But I know there was, to the witches, there was very strong people in this country, like politicians, business people, and all kind of people who they feel they that their life is not going in the right way.
Lee Hatfield: Hi.
Emilian: You know? And they feel they are cursed, they are... Something is not good. And they go to the witches and they they want to solve the problem.
Emilian: You know, feel like like you're in a you're in the, I don't know, in the 600 years ago.
Lee Hatfield: hi I wish it was that easy.
Emilian: Yeah, I wish to believe me.
Lee Hatfield: it fun
Emilian: but you Yes.
Lee Hatfield: So the fact that this is in the area Transylvania, as soon as you mention Transylvania, people automatically go to probably one of your most famous people.
Lee Hatfield: and your namesake for your Facebook page, Vlad the Impaler.
Lee Hatfield: So this guy, about the 1400s, I think, he was alive. that know that because of yeah I've got it written down, so I've done my research.
Emilian: for yeah First I want to ask you what you know about blood?
Lee Hatfield: But tell me about Vlad.
Emilian: What can I know about blood?
Lee Hatfield: Well, oh, okay oh you you're you're turning the tables now. So I know that he was the inspiration for for Dracula.
Lee Hatfield: Vlad the Impaler, his family name means dragon, if I'm correct. And is dragon called Dracul in Romania?
Emilian: Dracula. Yeah.
Lee Hatfield: Yeah, so that's where the term Dracula comes from.
Emilian: Yeah.
Lee Hatfield: So I've done my bit. You can carry on now.
Emilian: Thank you.
Lee Hatfield: You're welcome. good
Emilian: But we, this is impeller is a national hero in Romania. This is the truth. ask every Romanian what means from him, Vladimpeller.
Emilian: He's a national hero. The people say, the legend says that he is very evil.
Lee Hatfield: Thank
Emilian: He is like that evil. The truth is people love him because, Romanian love him because he was defending the country. He was defending the country, but in his own way, it's true. why Very cruel, very, I don't know.
Emilian: not a not maybe it's not to what to say in our times it's not so perfect but he was living in that that time in the he was born in 1431 so he was living in the 15th century
Lee Hatfield: it.
Emilian: so he was living in the fifteenth century
Emilian: he heney heney to defend He had an army of 20k soldiers fighting with the Ottomans 120k soldiers.
Emilian: So six times or he defend his country. He was, i don't know, maybe for some of people was a demon but for romanians it's a hero it's a real hero and the you know let me tell your story we had the presidential elections in 2035 last year and in end up paper with the candidates
Lee Hatfield: Thank you.
Emilian: uh where you can put a sample
Emilian: they say almost 10 000 romanians they make a separate area where they they put the name vlad the impaler and they put a sample there you know yeah this is the true this is the true i will show you the that one the papers oh
Lee Hatfield: that's That's amazing. but yeah i did any it come
Emilian: yeah so people want him like to be the pre the president people love him romanians love him this is
Lee Hatfield: yeah And even though he has got a bad reputation, in a sense, he was doing it for the right reasons.
Emilian: for the right reasons and he was succeed to defend his country with the army will six times less are comparing with Ottomans he was succeed to defend his country and yes he was a hero
Lee Hatfield: So because he's classed as a hero in Romania, are you taught about him at school?
Emilian: yes and in our school they
Emilian: He has a lot of chapters in the in the history books. I want to tell you that in almost all the cities, the big cities in Romania, Vladimirov has a statue.
Emilian: And the
Emilian: people, for example, last year, people gathering to his statues to celebrate National de Day of Romania.
Lee Hatfield: Thank you.
Emilian: Because they they they consider him a hero.
Emilian: They consider him a leader. He told us when the country will be in danger, weigh me up and I come to lead the army.
Emilian: So he he' still he's still the leader of Romania in our days.
Lee Hatfield: yeah So am I right in thinking that the connection between Vlad the Impaler and his name, but it was Bran Stoker that connected the two to vampirism?
Emilian: Yes.
Lee Hatfield: I believe that that that's correct.
Emilian: Yeah, that's correct. You know, Bram Stoker made a big favor to Romania.
Emilian: With the legends, with the vampires. Because the truth is, here we here we hear we talk facts through things. Romania was, I don't know,
Emilian: they was They had a lot of tourists because of these legends.
Emilian: And I think this is the is the positive thing. But in my opinion, there is no connection between bra the real leader and the vampires.
Lee Hatfield: And that's a a weird connection because, like say, Bram Stoker wrote about Dracula and he connected Transylvania andloy and Vlad the Impaler to Dracula being a vampire.
Lee Hatfield: Because we we have stories about Dracula arriving in England and he arrived at a small fishing town called Whitby, which is in the north of England.
Lee Hatfield: There's a an abbey and a church close to each other, and when you go up to the church, there's a little sign that says, the people that are looking for Dracula's grave will not find him because he's not real.
Lee Hatfield: and there's there's actually a sign i'll have to try to find that for you and send it to you but it's like yeah you won't find the grave because it's not real
Emilian: yeah Yeah, yeah, you know, even the, even the tomb of Vladimperio you don't find it they have he have tombs in two different monasteries here one is the Komana monastery where he found that once he was built he founded so Vladimperio was building churches he was truly Christian he was very proud to be Christian
Emilian: a So he had the tomb in two different churches here, but
Emilian: they dig there, they search there inside the tomb and nothing found. They did not find anything. Nobody, nothing.
Emilian: So, but it's still a mystery where Vlad is. This year is still our alive. Yeah.
Lee Hatfield: Well, that that would be interesting. But what I did found, because i I was obviously doing my research, to because yeah it's it's never good to have a one-sided story.
Lee Hatfield: You've got to kind of have a conversation.
Emilian: Yeah.
Lee Hatfield: But I did find it fascinating that King Charles is actually a descendant from Vlad the Impaler, the current King of England.
Emilian: yes yes yeah yes i i know this and you know it's possible it's possible because the three of the family going to going in many ways but the the bloodline
Emilian: in his bloodline it's
Lee Hatfield: Thank
Emilian: the with the proofs, I talk now with the proofs, not with the stories. It's one man living and it's alive from the bloodline, coming from the bloodline of Vladim Teller.
Emilian: And now, He's in the Israel army. It's old, I don't know, around i don't knowset i don't say I don't know, I will tell you after that.
Emilian: But he's still alive. There was two brothers, one of them was died a few years ago, and he was grown in the house where Vlad the Impaler was born, in Sighishwara, here in Transylvania.
Emilian: They were growing in that house, two brothers. One of them it's a was like an actor, like, I don't know, he he was made many festivals with Vlad the Impaler, so people to remember him, you understand?
Lee Hatfield: Yeah. so So, yeah, where, where he was born, that was in Transylvania, correct?
Emilian: and
Lee Hatfield: Okay,
Emilian: there was one in the house where Vlad was burned but the house was taken by communist regime and they must live there was a big house in Sighisoara and the
Lee Hatfield: so
Emilian: Communists take it because communists take many things, most of the things of castle, they take castle, they have portals, they have citadels, they, I don't know, many historical places, all the historical places, they were taken to the government.
Emilian: I want to tell you a story about these two people, about one one of them, because he he I heard from him, he was there already a few years ago.
Emilian: In the house of Vlad the Impaler, he was find a sword in the wall.
Emilian: I will send you the exactly the blog so you read exactly, but this is true. In the wall of the house,
Emilian: He was making, I don't know, he was rebuilt something. He was, they was breaking the walls. He was finding the sword and they was finding the, like, how do you say, necklace.
Lee Hatfield: Pendant. Yeah, yeah.
Emilian: And the sword,
Emilian: in the sword was the name the sword. was the name of and Osman 1470 1457 or something like this and the necklace he told me when he he he wear the band and the necklace he was feeling a very very interesting a very strange power
Emilian: He was feeling very powerful, very, I don't know, very strong. And the
Emilian: even the sword gave him a very unique energy when when he holds his hand. So he's very interesting about this.
Emilian: So that's what I want to say. He was dying and his brother is still alive. He's living in Israel now. This is the real bloodline of Vlad the Impeller with the documents.
Lee Hatfield: Wow, that's pretty cool. So yeah, as I mentioned at the very beginning, if people mention Romania, they mention mention Transylvania.
Lee Hatfield: But if Vlad the Impaler wasn't there, what kind of paranormal existence would Transylvania have? would it would it would it be exit Would it still be there or was most of it because of the Hoya Bachi Forest and because of Vlad the Impaler?
Emilian: You know, there is a lot of hundred places in Romania, not only Hoia Baciu forest or the witches pond. The witches pond, the place where Vladim Perlu was, he was betrayed there and he was killed by his own people, by his own people.
Emilian: not to Not by the Ottomans, he was killed by his own people.
Emilian: there are many places haunted when like there is a monastery it's just the ruins but it's a it's two hours far from Bucharest ae it's a place where it's abandoned now but it's abandoned because of haunted he haunted souls I will send you picture to see how looking right now so this church and this is the truth facts
Emilian: a in the World War two
Emilian: In that area they were fighting Germans with Russians.
Emilian: And the Germans, they were retreated already, Russians advanced. And the Germans, they were hiding in the church.
Emilian: Because they think that Russians will not kill them there.
Emilian: But Russians came. and they dragged them out from the church one by one and they they killed them there in the front in the front of the church in front of the door of the church they was killed them before they died germans they was cursed the church because all the village they was there around
Emilian: the locals there were there. We know from the locals that Germans were the Church.
Emilian: And from that day,
Emilian: no mess there happened anymore because the souls of the Germans never leave anymore that Church. is still haunted by that soul.
Emilian: And this is the fact, this is the real thing that no mass happened there from that time.
Emilian: And now it's looking like ruins.
Lee Hatfield: Now, it's it's interesting that you mentioned that because I was interviewing somebody from Holland a few months ago, and they mentioned that a lot of their hauntings that they have, because obviously Germany occupied Holland during the war, that a lot of their hauntings are connected to World War two Do you find that with Romania and Transylvania as well?
Emilian: In Transylvania there are not. I know just about the massacre, about the
Emilian: many people who died here like, I don't know, to sacrifice their life. But in my area I don't know about legends, this kind of legends.
Lee Hatfield: so if i contacted you and said to you i would like to do a trip to romania to investigate the paranormal world you've already mentioned about the witch's village you've mentioned about the hoi bacchi forest where else would you send me
Emilian: I send you in the
Emilian: that witch's pond, where the emperor died.
Lee Hatfield: yeah
Emilian: You need to go there.
Emilian: I will send you to Iulia Hașdeu Castle. Iulia Hașdeu Castle is a place where it's a castle. It's like a big house, but it's looking like a small castle.
Emilian: was 19th century. Bogdan Petricescu H.D. is the name of the owner of the castle. And he have a daughter yeah he had a daughter named Yulia.
Emilian: Yulia, she was studying. She was studying medicine.
Emilian: She was starting. She was 18 years old. this her father was a businessman and she was died she was died of tuberculosis to 18 years old
Emilian: from that moment the the father cannot accept the idea that his daughter died and he transformed his house his castle in a
Lee Hatfield: Wow.
Emilian: place where you can make rituals to contact the people who pass already, the people who
Emilian: are gone already, the people who are already in the outer world. So he never accepted the the idea that his daughter died. And he always, he was always contactor, using these ways, using the witches bring there.
Emilian: He bring the witches there, he make rituals there. And they say he was talking with his daughter. Even when she was dead.
Emilian: In that castle, he was talking day by day with his daughter. And the
Emilian: if you visit that castle, you will feel it. you The soul of Yulia never leaves that castle. Never. And it's very strange, the the rooms, how it's looking like, the the place where they make, I don't know, like a triangle
Emilian: shape of...
Emilian: things it's is very strange but you must feel for real you must go there own person to person to see and to feel to feel that I don't know a loving father, loving desperate father trying to talk with his daughter and yeah Even now, they say that the soul of the girl is there.
Emilian: you You can see many, many of her things. Even her favorite doll is exposed there. It's very strange. When you see that doll, you feel, a I don't know, very strange.
Lee Hatfield: Okay.
Lee Hatfield: So if I was going to give you $1 million dollars and you have to choose between that castle, and the forest and you have to spend the night there by yourself which one would you pick
Emilian: le If you give me a good if you give you one million dollars, I buy the house where Vlad and Pelle was born.
Emilian: it is ishwara It was for sale five years ago. That house was for sale for one million dollars.
Lee Hatfield: Oh wow, you could have bought it.
Emilian: and Yes, so with your money, i will ask. Maybe now it's valid too. But i i was I will buy that house.
Lee Hatfield: Okay, okay.
Emilian: So I live together with his soul there. I will live in that house forever. In the house where Vlad was born for you.
Lee Hatfield: That would be so cool. It really would.
Emilian: Yeah. Yeah.
Lee Hatfield: Okay, Emilian, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking to you. Before we go, please tell everybody where they can find you like you did at the beginning of the show, please.
Emilian: They can find me on the vladenpeller, Dracula page, they can message me there. I have connected my whatsapp there, they can message me anytime on whatsapp.
Emilian: If they want they can message me on my website romaniatraveltips.com I am available for everyone.
Lee Hatfield: Awesome. My friend, it's been an absolute pleasure talking to you. I have loved talking about the forest. It's been one of my favorites. I love Vlad the Impaler.
Lee Hatfield: Great guy. I now respect him. But for now, my friend, it's getting late Romania. So I will say thank you for your time. And I'm hoping that we'll both stay in touch.
Lee Hatfield: You take care for now. See you.
Emilian: Take care. Thank you. Thank you so much.
