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"Locals dub this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless people have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of strange happenings here date back a long time – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is a top global pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are advocating for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares housing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius recounts various folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family outing, later to return five years later with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her attire lacking the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports describe cellphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions include complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state seeing unusual marks on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

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

Various suggestions have been given to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the soil cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for human imaginative power.

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