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"People refer to this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs forming clouds of mist in the crisp night air. "So many people have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, turning to the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a small area containing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the company he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius recounts numerous traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, later to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a day, her garments lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks allow guests to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the trees where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the visitor an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees abruptly end as the group enters into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."