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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of unusual events here extend back a long time – this woodland is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Except for a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the company he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings vary from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report seeing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

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

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the soil explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions permit visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which measures EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, environmental or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."