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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation creating puffs of mist in the chilly evening air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." This expert is guiding a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here go back centuries – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a UFO suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he states, addressing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be a top global pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares home to locally rare oak varieties, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius tells some of the traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child going missing during a family outing, only to reappear half a decade later with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports explain cellphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings include complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Some people report observing unusual marks on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth explain their strange formation.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours enable guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the trees where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to frighten nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."