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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath producing puffs of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is escorting a traveler on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here go back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are advocating for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area housing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a little girl disappearing during a family outing, then to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a moment, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail cellphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people claim observing strange rashes on their skin, perceiving unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions enable guests to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the trees where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which measures energy patterns.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is wild, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a place which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten regional populations.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."