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"They call this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of mist in the cold night air. "Countless visitors have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is escorting a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, addressing the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are advocating for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius describes numerous local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story describes a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no recollection of what had happened, having not aged a moment, her attire without the smallest trace of soil.
• More common reports explain cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's excursions allow guests to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO images, he gives his guest an EMF meter which measures energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most active section of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the creation of human hands.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – appears solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."