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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath forming clouds of vapor in the cold night air. "So many people have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here date back centuries – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares containing area-specific specific tree species, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide recounts some of the folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, then to reappear half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her attire shy of the smallest trace of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours permit participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most active area of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to frighten nearby villages.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, climatic or purely mythical, a center for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the line between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."