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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing puffs of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here go back centuries – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he states, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl disappearing during a family picnic, later to reappear five years later with no memory of the events, having not aged a day, her garments lacking the smallest trace of dirt.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. All around are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground cause their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a location which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."