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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation forming wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "So many individuals have vanished here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is leading a guest on a evening stroll through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, addressing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares containing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells numerous traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story tells of a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions permit guests to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's renowned fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."