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"People refer to this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating clouds of vapor in the cold evening air. "Countless individuals have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he adds, facing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares containing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts various local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl going missing during a group gathering, only to reappear half a decade later with complete amnesia of her experience, without aging a single day, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people claim observing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks enable participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he passes his guest an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The plants abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the work of human hands.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

Bram Stoker's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."