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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a parallel world." Marius is escorting a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius tells numerous local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story recounts a little girl vanishing during a family outing, later to return half a decade later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a day, her clothes without the smallest trace of dust.
• More common reports explain cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are trees whose stems are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radioactivity in the ground explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours permit guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the result of people.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for human imaginative power.

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