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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his breath forming puffs of vapor in the crisp evening air. "Countless people have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is leading a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of bizarre occurrences here go back a long time – the grove is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the organization he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes numerous traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a young child vanishing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments without the smallest trace of soil.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state seeing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth account for their unusual development.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions permit visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO images, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – appears real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."