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"Locals dub this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath forming puffs of condensation in the cold night air. "So many visitors have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of the region – are encroaching, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section home to locally rare specific tree species, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child vanishing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, without aging a single day, her garments without the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports explain smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals claim noticing unusual marks on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or feel hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's walks enable participants to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering creatures, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."