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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, his breath producing puffs of vapor in the chilly evening air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is escorting a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the forest is named after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl disappearing during a family picnic, only to reappear five years later with no memory of her experience, without aging a moment, her attire shy of the slightest speck of dirt.
• More common reports detail smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state noticing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions enable visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he hands the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."