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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath forming clouds of vapor in the crisp evening air. "So many visitors have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to another dimension." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the traveler with a smile. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. 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 construction companies are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares housing regionally uncommon oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide describes some of the folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale describes a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family outing, later to return five years later with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a single day, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report observing strange rashes on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or sense hands grabbing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours enable guests to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he passes the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons radioactive, environmental or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."