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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, the air from his lungs forming puffs of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – the grove is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section home to regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to recognise the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide describes some of the traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to reappear five years later with no memory of what had happened, without aging a single day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports explain smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Some people report seeing unusual marks on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, although sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours enable guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO images, he gives the traveler an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active section of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The trees suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this strange clearing is natural, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."