Exploring this World's Most Haunted Woodland: Twisted Trees, Flying Saucers and Spooky Stories in Romania's Legendary Region.

"They call this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing puffs of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is leading a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the forest is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he states, turning to the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, interested in encountering the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are advocating for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Except for a small area containing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide tells numerous folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account describes a young child going missing during a family outing, later to reappear five years later with no memory of the events, having not aged a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of soil.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report observing unusual marks on their skin, perceiving unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radioactivity in the ground account for their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO images, he gives his guest an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The trees abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is natural, not the result of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's famous character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith perched on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears real and understandable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."