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"They call this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his exhalation creating puffs of condensation in the cold night air. "Countless people have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here date back a long time – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for approval to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Except for a limited section home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes various folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child going missing during a family picnic, later to return after five years with no recollection of the events, having not aged a single day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report observing strange rashes on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours enable guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives his guest an EMF meter which registers EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the result of human hands.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."