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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of vapor in the chilly evening air. "So many individuals have vanished here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of unusual events here date back centuries – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he adds, turning to the visitor with a smile. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius tells various folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl disappearing during a family picnic, only to reappear five years later with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions enable visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he passes his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the creation of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – feels solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."