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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs forming puffs of mist in the crisp night air. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is leading a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But rest assured," he adds, turning to the traveler with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area home to area-specific specific tree species, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, Marius describes various folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account describes a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, then to reappear five years later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her attire without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state seeing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving ghostly voices through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been given to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's walks allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most powerful section of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith situated on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels real and understandable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between fact and fiction is very thin."