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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have vanished here, it's thought it's an entrance to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, turning to the traveler with a grin. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be a top global destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a small area containing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to return five years later with complete amnesia of the events, having not aged a day, her garments lacking the slightest speck of dirt.
• More common reports describe cellphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground explain their strange formation.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's walks enable guests 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 pictures, he passes the visitor an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to frighten local communities.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building perched on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."