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"Locals dub this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath producing wisps of mist in the crisp night air. "Countless individuals have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." This expert is escorting a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here date back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide recounts numerous local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a family picnic, later to return half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports detail smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to account for the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the trees where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active section of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible versus the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide comments, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."