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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his exhalation creating clouds of mist in the cold night air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, many believe it's an entrance to a different realm." Marius is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, facing the visitor with a grin. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being one of the world's premier 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, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area home to locally rare oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide tells numerous folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account describes a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, only to reappear five years later with no recollection of the events, without aging a day, her attire without the smallest trace of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks allow participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO images, he hands his guest an electromagnetic field detector which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

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