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"Locals dub this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs forming wisps of vapor in the crisp night air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is leading a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But rest assured," he states, addressing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and developers are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the government officials to appreciate the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl going missing during a group gathering, later to reappear five years later with no memory of the events, without aging a single day, her attire lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil cause their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most powerful area of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The plants suddenly stop dead as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

The famous author's renowned fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."