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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath forming wisps of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is guiding a guest on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the forest is called after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are advocating for approval to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section housing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide tells numerous local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story tells of a young child going missing during a family outing, only to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, having not aged a single day, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, perceiving unseen murmurs through the woodland, or experience hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been given to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's walks permit guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO pictures, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful section of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of human hands.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to frighten nearby villages.

The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – appears solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."