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"People refer to this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his exhalation producing wisps of vapor in the chilly night air. "So many individuals have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here extend back centuries – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a flying saucer floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be a top global pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares containing area-specific oak varieties, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide hopes that the organization he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide describes various traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a young child going missing during a family outing, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, without aging a moment, her attire without the smallest trace of dirt.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing unusual marks on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks permit participants to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the trees where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of people.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the border is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."