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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath creating clouds of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless visitors have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he states, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius recounts numerous local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a moment, her attire without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, hearing unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the deformed trees: strong gales could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most powerful area of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable in contrast to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."