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"They call this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs producing puffs of condensation in the crisp night air. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is guiding a guest on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here date back a long time – this woodland is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, facing the traveler with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Except for a limited section home to area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius describes some of the folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child disappearing during a family picnic, later to reappear after five years with no recollection of her experience, having not aged a single day, her garments shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports detail smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state seeing unusual marks on their skin, perceiving ghostly voices through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth explain their unusual development.

But research studies have found insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours allow participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he passes the visitor an EMF meter which measures EMF readings.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – appears solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the line between fact and fiction is very thin."