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"Locals dub this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of mist in the chilly evening air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to another dimension." The guide is guiding a traveler on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here go back centuries – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO suspended above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and developers are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a limited section home to locally rare specific tree species, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, later to reappear five years later with no recollection of what had happened, having not aged a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of soil.
• More common reports explain cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals state seeing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground cause their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's tours permit guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most energetic area of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's famous character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – appears real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for creative energy.

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