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"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath creating puffs of condensation in the cold night air. "Countless visitors have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is leading a guest on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, called the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area housing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius recounts various local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story tells of a young child going missing during a family picnic, later to return half a decade later with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her attire lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions allow visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which stirs the imagination, where the division is blurred between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten nearby villages.

The famous author's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

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