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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his exhalation creating clouds of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many people have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is leading a traveler 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 fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Barring a limited section containing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the initiative he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide tells numerous traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, later to return after five years with no memory of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire without the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state noticing strange rashes on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel palms pushing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions allow participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he hands the visitor an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the line between truth and fantasy is very thin."