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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath creating clouds of mist in the crisp evening air. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, some say it's a portal to a different realm." This expert is leading a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of unusual events here date back centuries – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he adds, addressing the visitor with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being a top global destinations for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares housing locally rare oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the organization he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story describes a young child going missing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of the events, without aging a day, her clothes lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report observing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks permit visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he hands his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most powerful area of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a center for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius states, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."