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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the cold evening air. "Numerous visitors have vanished here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is leading a guest on a evening stroll through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the organization he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius tells various local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family outing, then to reappear five years later with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving ghostly voices through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be unverifiable, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours permit visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO images, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most active section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the result of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting creatures, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."