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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, described as the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and construction companies are advocating for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide describes numerous traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a little girl going missing during a group gathering, only to return after five years with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a day, her attire lacking the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state noticing strange rashes on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be unverifiable, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth account for their unusual development.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's excursions permit participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful area of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of people.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a location which fuels fantasy, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering vampires, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, environmental or purely mythical, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."