Delving into this Globe's Spookiest Forest: Twisted Trees, UFOs and Eerie Tales in Transylvania.

"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation forming wisps of vapor in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have gone missing here, some say there's a gateway to another dimension." This expert is leading a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to remove the forest to construct residential buildings.

Barring a limited section containing area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide describes numerous local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl going missing during a family outing, later to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a single day, her attire without the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions permit participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most active part of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the result of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a hub for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."