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"They call this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation forming wisps of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares home to locally rare specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to reappear half a decade later with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving ghostly voices through the trees, or experience palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. All around are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their unusual development.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's excursions permit participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most active section of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to frighten nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the division between fact and fiction is extremely fine."