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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his exhalation producing wisps of vapor in the cold night air. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the grove is named after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, curious to experience the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and construction companies are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Except for a limited section home to area-specific specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide recounts numerous local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to return after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, without aging a moment, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts describe cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state noticing strange rashes on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose bases are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil explain their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks enable participants to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

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

The plants immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a area which inspires creativity, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building situated on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable compared to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a center for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."