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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of condensation in the cold dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here date back centuries – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

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

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a few hectares home to locally rare oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells some of the traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a moment, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports explain mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions vary from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Some people state observing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's walks enable visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he hands his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most active area of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is natural, not the result of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."