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"Locals dub this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation producing clouds of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have gone missing here, it's thought it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of unusual events here go back centuries – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being a top global pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, this woodland is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and developers are pushing for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide describes some of the folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account describes a little girl going missing during a group gathering, later to reappear five years later with no memory of what had happened, without aging a moment, her garments lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors state observing unusual marks on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's excursions enable guests to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO images, he hands the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic area of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."