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"Locals dub this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation forming wisps of condensation in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, facing his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, shamans, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to appreciate the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child disappearing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise half a decade later with complete amnesia of her experience, without aging a single day, her attire without the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state observing unusual marks on their skin, hearing disembodied whispers through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the soil explain their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's walks permit guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most active area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, climatic or purely mythical, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide says, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."