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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath producing puffs of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is leading a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here extend back centuries – this woodland is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a UFO floating above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. 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 advocating for authorization to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area housing locally rare oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

As twigs and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide tells various traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a young child vanishing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no memory of the events, having not aged a day, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports explain cellphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are trees whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the deformed trees: strong gales could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the ground explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's tours enable guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and appears that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."