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"People refer to this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of mist in the crisp night air. "So many visitors have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is escorting a guest on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here go back a long time – the grove is named after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object hovering above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he continues, addressing the traveler with a grin. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Except for a small area home to area-specific oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the company he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide describes numerous traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child vanishing during a group gathering, later to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes without the slightest speck of dust.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense hands grabbing them, even when sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. All around are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours allow guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."