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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his breath producing clouds of condensation in the chilly evening air. "Numerous visitors have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here date back a long time – the forest is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for approval to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares containing area-specific specific tree species, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a little girl disappearing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state seeing unusual marks on their arms, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense fingers clutching them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours enable guests to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his famous 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 says. "Discover what's here."

The plants suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."