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"Locals dub this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation producing wisps of condensation in the chilly night air. "So many individuals have vanished here, some say there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of strange happenings here date back hundreds of years – this woodland is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention 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 failed to return. But no need to fear," he states, facing the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is a top global destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius describes some of the traditional stories and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of the events, having not aged a moment, her clothes without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories explain cellphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals report noticing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements clearly observable that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been given to account for the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions permit participants to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most active part of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a location which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt local communities.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."