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"Locals dub this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his breath producing puffs of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is escorting a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – this woodland is called after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, facing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Except for a limited section home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide recounts various traditional stories and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a group gathering, later to reappear after five years with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments without the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories explain cellphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the ground cause their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's walks enable visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the border is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."