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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation forming clouds of mist in the chilly night air. "So many people have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object floating above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he adds, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Except for a limited section containing area-specific specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius recounts some of the traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child vanishing during a family outing, then to reappear five years later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a moment, her garments without the smallest trace of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the stories may be hard to prove, numerous elements clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are trees whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to account for the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth cause their strange formation.

But research studies have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions permit visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an EMF meter which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt local communities.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the division between fact and fiction is extremely fine."