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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating puffs of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have vanished here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here date back a long time – the grove is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Except for a small area home to locally rare oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child going missing during a group gathering, later to reappear half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports detail cellphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors claim observing strange rashes on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are trees whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been given to account for the deformed trees: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours enable visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."