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"Locals dub this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of vapor in the chilly night air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a unidentified flying object hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a limited section home to area-specific specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes various traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, only to return half a decade later with no memory of the events, having not aged a day, her attire without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors state observing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours enable visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he gives his guest an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most powerful part of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, environmental or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between fact and fiction is very thin."