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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a local guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of vapor in the chilly evening air. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is leading a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is a top global pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and construction companies are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide describes various folk tales and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child vanishing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise five years later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail cellphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people report noticing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's excursions enable participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he hands his guest an electromagnetic field detector which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most active part of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this strange clearing is natural, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The famous author's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."