Venturing into this Planet's Most Ghostly Forest: Contorted Trees, Unidentified Flying Objects and Chilling Accounts in Romania's Legendary Region.

"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath producing clouds of mist in the crisp night air. "So many people have vanished here, many believe it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, eager to feel the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are pushing for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide describes various local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child disappearing during a family outing, then to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of dust.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people claim noticing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving ghostly voices through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been given to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's excursions permit participants to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful area of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The plants abruptly end as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath the ground; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a area which fuels fantasy, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to frighten local communities.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."