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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his exhalation creating puffs of condensation in the chilly night air. "So many people have vanished here, it's thought there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is leading a guest on a evening stroll through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a UFO floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he continues, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Except for a few hectares home to locally rare oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their shoes, Marius recounts some of the folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, later to reappear after five years with no recollection of the events, having not aged a moment, her garments shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories explain cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or experience palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO images, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic part of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to frighten nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."