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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to a different realm." This expert is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a limited section housing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius recounts numerous folk tales and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of her experience, without aging a moment, her clothes lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports describe cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours enable visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he hands his guest an EMF meter which measures EMF readings.

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

The trees abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and looks that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

The famous author's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."