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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many people have vanished here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is leading a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of unusual events here go back centuries – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section containing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl disappearing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of soil.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state seeing strange rashes on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's walks allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he gives his guest an EMF meter which measures energy patterns.

"We're entering the most powerful section of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable versus the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the division between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."