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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, his exhalation creating puffs of vapor in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a unidentified flying object hovering above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area housing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius tells numerous folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a group gathering, then to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, without aging a moment, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals state observing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, although sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks allow visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he hands his guest an EMF meter which registers energy patterns.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as the group enters into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which inspires creativity, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."