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"People refer to this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his breath producing puffs of vapor in the cold evening air. "Countless individuals have vanished here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." The guide is leading a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and supernatural researchers from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a limited section home to area-specific specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of her experience, without aging a moment, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state seeing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours enable visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic area of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a area which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for reasons related to radiation, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the line between truth and fantasy is very thin."