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"People refer to this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his exhalation creating clouds of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is leading a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here date back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of her experience, without aging a day, her attire shy of the smallest trace of dirt.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have found insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's walks permit visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the trees where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most powerful area of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the creation of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's famous character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – appears real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."