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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating puffs of vapor in the cold evening air. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is escorting a traveler on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he states, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares containing area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide tells numerous local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to reappear five years later with complete amnesia of the events, having not aged a moment, her attire without the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report observing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth explain their crooked growth.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions allow visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the meadow in the trees where Barnea captured his renowned UFO images, he hands the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath our feet; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the work of human hands.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten nearby villages.

The novelist's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."