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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs forming clouds of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is leading a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – the grove is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for approval to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a limited section home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a little girl vanishing during a family outing, only to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of soil.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Some people state noticing strange rashes on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the trees, or experience fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's excursions permit participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he hands his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The plants immediately cease as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the creation of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – appears real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."