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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have vanished here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is leading a traveler on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is titled for a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and paranormal investigators from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for approval to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Barring a limited section containing area-specific specific tree species, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius tells some of the local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, later to reappear five years later with no recollection of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a day, her attire lacking the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report seeing strange rashes on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth explain their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours enable guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which stirs the imagination, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

The famous author's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."