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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath forming puffs of vapor in the crisp night air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." The guide is escorting a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, turning to the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for approval to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the company he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale describes a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to reappear after five years with no recollection of her experience, without aging a day, her clothes lacking the slightest speck of dirt.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

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

The trees abruptly end as the group enters into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten nearby villages.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."