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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his exhalation producing clouds of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

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

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the organization he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius recounts numerous folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child vanishing during a family picnic, only to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments without the slightest speck of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report seeing strange rashes on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the deformed trees: strong gales could have altered the growth, or typically increased radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks permit visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes his guest an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees abruptly end as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the result of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."