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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his breath creating puffs of mist in the cold night air. "Countless people have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to another dimension." Marius is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here date back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child going missing during a family outing, then to return five years later with no memory of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a day, her attire lacking the slightest speck of dirt.
• More common reports detail smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report noticing unusual marks on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the stories may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose stems are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks enable visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO images, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most active area of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."