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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his exhalation forming puffs of mist in the chilly evening air. "So many visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here date back a long time – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is a top global destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section home to area-specific specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts various local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, without aging a day, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people claim seeing unusual marks on their skin, perceiving unseen murmurs through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions permit visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO images, he gives the traveler an EMF meter which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is wild, not the creation of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the boundary between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."