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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath producing clouds of condensation in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is leading a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here extend back a long time – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he adds, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is a top global destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares containing area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous folk tales and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, only to reappear five years later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports describe mobile phones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving unseen murmurs through the woodland, or sense hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be unverifiable, numerous elements visibly present that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the soil explain their strange formation.

But research studies have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours enable visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO pictures, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

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

The plants abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this strange clearing is organic, not the creation of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable in contrast to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

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