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"People refer to this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath forming puffs of vapor in the chilly night air. "So many people have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the grove is named after a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being a top global destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Except for a few hectares home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to recognise the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius describes some of the traditional stories and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child vanishing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, without aging a moment, her attire lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report observing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

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

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours enable visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he hands the visitor an ghost-hunting device which measures EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – feels solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," Marius states, "the boundary between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."