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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his breath creating clouds of vapor in the crisp night air. "Numerous individuals have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares home to regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius recounts some of the traditional stories and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a family outing, then to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals report noticing unusual marks on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground cause their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's excursions enable visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of human hands.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."