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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation forming clouds of condensation in the crisp night air. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is leading a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, facing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being a top global pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are advocating for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a limited section housing locally rare oak varieties, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide recounts some of the traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to return after five years with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a moment, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports explain mobile phones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Feelings include complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors claim seeing unusual marks on their arms, perceiving ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours permit participants to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants abruptly end as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt local communities.

The novelist's renowned fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building perched on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes nuclear, environmental or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."