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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of vapor in the crisp night air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area home to area-specific oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the organization he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, motivating the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius recounts various local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to return five years later with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her clothes without the slightest speck of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are plants whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he passes the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible in contrast to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, environmental or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."