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"People refer to this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of condensation in the chilly evening air. "Countless visitors have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." This expert is leading a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section containing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius describes numerous local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, then to reappear five years later with no recollection of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her garments without the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports detail cellphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report observing unusual marks on their bodies, perceiving unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased radioactivity in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours allow visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The trees abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."