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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his breath forming clouds of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is guiding a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here extend back a long time – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area home to locally rare specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the organization he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells various traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl vanishing during a family outing, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, having not aged a single day, her attire shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report observing unusual marks on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours permit participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he gives the traveler an EMF meter which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most active area of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the result of human hands.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between reality and legend. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the line between truth and fantasy is very thin."