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"Locals dub this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating wisps of condensation in the chilly night air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is leading a traveler on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But rest assured," he states, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area containing locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, Marius recounts various traditional stories and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to return five years later with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her garments without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the abnormal growth: strong gales could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have found insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours allow visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the trees where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The only greenery is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is wild, not the creation of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure situated on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, environmental or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."