Exploring the Globe's Spookiest Woodland: Twisted Trees, Unidentified Flying Objects and Spooky Stories in Transylvania.

"People refer to this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath forming clouds of vapor in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." The guide is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the traveler with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, 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 is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts some of the local legends and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts describe mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Feelings vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors claim seeing unusual marks on their arms, detecting disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours permit visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a area which fuels fantasy, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for causes nuclear, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

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