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"Locals dub this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath forming wisps of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here date back a long time – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a UFO floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he adds, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Barring a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the company he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide describes numerous traditional stories and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child vanishing during a family outing, later to return after five years with no memory of her experience, having not aged a day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth account for their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks enable participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he passes his guest an ghost-hunting device which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants immediately cease as the group enters into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's renowned fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is very thin."