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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of vapor in the crisp night air. "Countless people have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here date back centuries – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, turning to the visitor with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to appreciate the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius recounts numerous folk tales and claimed supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments shy of the slightest speck of dirt.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings include absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim observing strange rashes on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's excursions permit guests to engage in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."