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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation creating wisps of mist in the crisp evening air. "So many people have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." This expert is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares containing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide tells some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to return half a decade later with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a day, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail smartphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals claim seeing unusual marks on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours enable guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he passes his guest an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's renowned fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is very thin."