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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath forming puffs of vapor in the crisp evening air. "So many visitors have disappeared here, many believe it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is escorting a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of unusual events here extend back a long time – this woodland is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But rest assured," he states, facing his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares home to area-specific oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes various folk tales and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child going missing during a family outing, only to reappear five years later with no recollection of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes without the smallest trace of dirt.
• More common reports detail cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors state observing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the ground cause their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's walks allow visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's renowned fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."