Venturing into this Globe's Spookiest Woodland: Twisted Trees, UFOs and Spooky Stories in Romania's Legendary Region.

"People refer to this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath creating wisps of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares containing area-specific specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the organization he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts some of the local legends and alleged ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, only to return half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions vary from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours enable guests to take part in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he passes his guest an ghost-hunting device which measures energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure situated on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible versus this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."