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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation forming puffs of mist in the crisp night air. "So many individuals have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a different realm." This expert is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares housing area-specific oak varieties, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius recounts some of the traditional stories and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child vanishing during a family outing, only to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people claim seeing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the trees, or sense hands grabbing them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements visibly present that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours allow participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he passes his guest an EMF meter which measures energy patterns.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."