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"Locals dub this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath producing puffs of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a night walk through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here date back a long time – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from around the globe, interested in encountering the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius tells numerous local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, later to rematerialise half a decade later with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground account for their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's excursions allow participants to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

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

The plants immediately cease as they step into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – seems solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, environmental or simply folkloric, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."