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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his exhalation forming wisps of vapor in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have vanished here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of the region – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area home to area-specific specific tree species, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family outing, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of the events, having not aged a day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks enable participants to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the trees where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic part of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the creation of people.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the border is indistinct between truth and myth. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for factors radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."