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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath producing puffs of mist in the crisp night air. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares home to locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide describes various local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a young child vanishing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no recollection of the events, without aging a moment, her attire lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports describe cellphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people report noticing strange rashes on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be unverifiable, there are many things clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to account for the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions enable participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an ghost-hunting device which measures EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."