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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation producing puffs of mist in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here date back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, facing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the forest is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, encouraging the government officials to appreciate the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child going missing during a family outing, only to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of the events, having not aged a moment, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim seeing strange rashes on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is certainly unusual. All around are vegetation whose trunks are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks allow visitors to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he hands his guest an EMF meter which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building perched on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."