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"Locals dub this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his exhalation producing puffs of condensation in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland 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 – the forest is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area housing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide tells some of the folk tales and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story recounts a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, then to return after five years with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Some people state observing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their strange formation.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's walks enable guests to take part in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – appears solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."