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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation creating puffs of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area home to area-specific specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius describes numerous traditional stories and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a young child vanishing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, without aging a day, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth explain their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours enable participants to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which measures energy patterns.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the creation of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."