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"People refer to this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of condensation in the chilly evening air. "So many individuals have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for supernatural fans, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius recounts some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise five years later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of soil.
• More common reports explain smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report noticing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions allow visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives his guest an electromagnetic field detector which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most active area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of human hands.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for reasons nuclear, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius comments, "the boundary between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."