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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation creating wisps of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here extend back centuries – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, facing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being a top global destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for approval to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius tells some of the local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a little girl vanishing during a family outing, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes without the smallest trace of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report seeing unusual marks on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth cause their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he hands the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most active section of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The plants abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, environmental or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."