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"People refer to this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath forming puffs of vapor in the chilly evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he adds, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares containing locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide describes some of the traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a day, her attire without the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports explain smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state observing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the deformed trees: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radiation levels in the earth cause their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions allow visitors to participate in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO images, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which measures EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a area which fuels fantasy, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."