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"People refer to this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation producing puffs of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have disappeared here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is leading a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of unusual events here go back centuries – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, ufologists and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are campaigning for approval to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section home to area-specific oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius describes some of the folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a little girl going missing during a family outing, later to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a moment, her attire lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report seeing strange rashes on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to account for the abnormal growth: strong gales could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours allow participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons radioactive, environmental or simply folkloric, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."