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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath producing wisps of condensation in the cold night air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, some say it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is guiding a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the grove is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, addressing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a small area home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their boots, Marius tells numerous traditional stories and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a family outing, later to reappear after five years with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments without the slightest speck of dust.
• Regular stories describe mobile phones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's walks permit guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

"We're entering the most powerful part of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is wild, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the line between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."