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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his breath forming clouds of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of unusual events here go back a long time – this woodland is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section home to area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the authorities to appreciate the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child going missing during a family outing, then to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state seeing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the trees, or sense hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's excursions allow participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the meadow in the trees where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he hands his guest an ghost-hunting device which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the creation of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, environmental or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius comments, "the line between fact and fiction is very thin."