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"They call this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the crisp evening air. "So many visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back centuries – this woodland is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for approval to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Barring a few hectares containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells some of the traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child going missing during a family picnic, later to reappear half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her attire without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals claim observing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel hands grabbing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's walks allow visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building perched on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a center for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is very thin."