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"Locals dub this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath producing puffs of condensation in the cold evening air. "Numerous people have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." This expert is guiding a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here date back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a UFO floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Except for a small area containing regionally uncommon oak varieties, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide tells numerous folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise half a decade later with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a moment, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• More common reports explain cellphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground cause their unusual development.

But research studies have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions enable participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the trees where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."