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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath producing clouds of condensation in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have vanished here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer hovering above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, addressing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of the region – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section housing locally rare oak varieties, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of dust.
• More common reports detail smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals state noticing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving ghostly voices through the trees, or sense fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground account for their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours permit guests to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO images, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which registers energy patterns.

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

The plants abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."