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"They call this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains a local guide, the air from his lungs forming clouds of condensation in the chilly evening air. "So many visitors have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." This expert is leading a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of unusual events here go back centuries – the forest is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he adds, turning to the visitor with a grin. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is a top global destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a small area home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide recounts numerous local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account describes a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to return half a decade later with no memory of her experience, without aging a single day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim seeing strange rashes on their arms, hearing ghostly voices through the trees, or sense fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions permit guests to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."