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"Locals dub this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here date back a long time – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Except for a small area housing area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story recounts a young child vanishing during a group gathering, only to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, without aging a day, her garments without the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim seeing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. All around are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's excursions permit participants to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

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

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."