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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation creating wisps of mist in the crisp evening air. "Countless people have gone missing here, many believe there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, addressing his guest with a smile. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for approval to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Except for a limited section home to locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide describes various local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, then to return after five years with no memory of her experience, having not aged a day, her attire lacking the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, hearing ghostly voices through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are trees whose bases are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the earth explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours enable visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, environmental or simply folkloric, a nexus for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."