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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his exhalation producing wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, some say it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is named after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family outing, later to reappear half a decade later with no memory of her experience, having not aged a single day, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories explain mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Some people claim observing unusual marks on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's excursions allow guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most powerful part of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

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

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, environmental or purely mythical, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."