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"Locals dub this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation forming clouds of vapor in the cold evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, some say there's a gateway to a different realm." The guide is guiding a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here date back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of the region – are expanding, and developers are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a small area home to area-specific specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child vanishing during a family picnic, then to return after five years with no recollection of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim seeing unusual marks on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the soil account for their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions enable guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he gives his guest an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful part of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of people.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."