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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have disappeared here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is escorting a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the forest is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, turning to the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares containing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the company he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius tells some of the local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a family picnic, later to return after five years with no memory of her experience, having not aged a moment, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of dirt.
• Regular stories explain cellphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report seeing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are vegetation whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions enable visitors to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable versus the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."