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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation forming puffs of condensation in the cold dusk atmosphere. "So many people have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." Marius is leading a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he adds, facing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for permission to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius tells some of the traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to reappear half a decade later with no memory of the events, having not aged a moment, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail cellphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state seeing unusual marks on their skin, perceiving unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose trunks are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radiation levels in the earth explain their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's excursions permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, environmental or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."