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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the chilly night air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is escorting a guest on a night walk through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of the region – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for approval to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section housing locally rare oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child vanishing during a family picnic, then to return after five years with no memory of the events, without aging a single day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports describe smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Some people report seeing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth cause their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's excursions allow visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most powerful section of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."