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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath producing clouds of condensation in the chilly evening air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is leading a guest on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being a top global hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the tech capital of the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for permission to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the company he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, encouraging the government officials to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale describes a young child going missing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories explain mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings include complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state seeing unusual marks on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there are many things clearly observable that is certainly unusual. All around are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's walks enable guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic area of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."