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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, his breath creating wisps of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "So many people have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here go back centuries – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Barring a small area home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide tells numerous folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, later to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals claim seeing unusual marks on their bodies, perceiving ghostly voices through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours enable visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he hands his guest an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius states, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."