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"People refer to this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of vapor in the cold night air. "Countless visitors have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." This expert is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are pushing for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a limited section home to area-specific oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the initiative he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story describes a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, only to rematerialise five years later with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe cellphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people state observing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be hard to prove, there are many things clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been given to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radioactivity in the earth explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the woods where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors nuclear, environmental or simply folkloric, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."