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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath forming clouds of condensation in the crisp night air. "So many people have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is leading a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of bizarre occurrences here date back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from around the globe, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of the region – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for authorization to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares home to area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius describes various folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, then to return half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories explain mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their unusual development.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks enable visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is indistinct between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for reasons related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is extremely fine."