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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his exhalation forming clouds of mist in the cold night air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is titled for a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, facing his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are advancing, and developers are advocating for permission to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section containing locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide recounts some of the folk tales and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a little girl going missing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her attire without the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals state seeing strange rashes on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been given to clarify the deformed trees: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their strange formation.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions enable visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he hands the visitor an EMF meter which measures energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful section of the forest," he comments. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – seems solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, environmental or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."