Support NeoGAF

[The Last Wizard]

So i just caught netherworld on the travel channel and the subject was the Paris Catacombs, it reminded of the episode of scariest places on earth I saw awhile back and them stating that is was possibly a gate to hell.This place is fucking creepy, and imagining getting lost there is just downright terrifying. Not to mention the fact that it keeps going deeper and deeper.

I'm hoping some of Paris gaf drops in and shares some experiences or knowledge. Is it true about the guy who was documenting the catacombs(and drop his camera) never getting out?

 

[SmokeMaxX]

I'm pretty sure it was scientifically confirmed that it was a gateway to hell.

 

[Llyranor]

I regret not going there last time I was in Paris. Would definitely be on my list if I ever go again.

 

[ultraspank]

Well i'm french and i can confirm, it's a gateway to hell.
Which is Paris itself.

 

[phisheep]

I've been down the catacombs twice over the last 40 years. Incredible experience.

There's all that wandering around the old city sewers and them bam all of a sudden you are through the archway into the ossuary - which is kind of hard to take in first time around. You're left with a vague memory of something rather special.

If you can get there, go.

Is it true about the guy who was documenting the catacombs(and drop his camera) never getting out?

Probably not. It is pretty well gated off these days. Not so well first time I visited, but if you know Paris you are unlikely to get lost as each passage is labelled with the name of the street above.

 

[Leeness]

I'm going to Paris in September and I have a tour booked in the catacombs and I'm stoked

 

[Crayons]

I've never been to France, but if I do that's the first place I'll visit. Looks amazing

 

[terrisus]

I'm hoping some of Paris gaf drops in

 

[Konka]

I'm pretty sure it was scientifically confirmed that it was a gateway to hell.

 

[DedValve]

I remember scariest place on earth as well and also the rumor of someone getting lost and never coming out.

I always assumed thats where the devil hides all the puppies he steals. And thats where all the poisonous creatures are born from before migrating to Australia.

 

[Grizzo]

There are some (illegal) parties that take place in the Catacombs sometimes. Never been to one myself as I don't know if I could take it. Needless to say if you're claustrophobic, you should just forget about it.

Here's an article about it (with good pictures) and another one (with short videos). Both are in french.

 

[phisheep]

It is a very difficult place in which to get a sense of scale.

Partly it is claustrophobic, because of the construction; partly it is decorative (and nicely done) - until you realise that the decoration is made up of human thighbones.

Count the bodies, or estimate them. That gives a sense of scale.

And take a torch with you to peer down the (now gated-off) side passages - and you'll get a sense of what it looks like decayed and rat-infested.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

the line is really big

 

[Jarrod38]

Is it there a picture floating around on the internet of a picture of a female who got lost in the catacombs after a party was found 3 years later?

 

[Windam]

I wanna spend a night in there all alone

for science

 

[phisheep]

the line is really big

I don't know what it is like now, but both times I have been down there were at most 30 people. They had a specific time of opening, they issued candles to go down with (that was the only light we had), counted us all down and counted us all back.

I guess it might be a bit more commercialised now, being as it seems to be much better-known. In my day it was something of a well-kept secret.

 

[golem]

It's not that scary.

Just a bunch of bones piled on each other..

Worth it if youre visiting paris though

 

[Baroquemantic]

I've always wanted to visit that place. Also, there's a new supernatural horror movie coming out that takes place there called 'As Above, So Below'. Trailer looks creepy as hell.

 

[phisheep]

I wanna spend a night in there all alone

for science

I'm guessing you haven't been there then?

I wouldn't. Science or not.

 

[GeordieMark]

I've been to the catacombs. It's a very weird experience. There are piles of bones and skulls everywhere, and some very weird photographs of fully clothed skeletons. It's pretty spooky.

There was a huge queue to get in when I went, but I'm British so that didn't bother me.

It's well worth a visit.

 

[phisheep]

It's not that scary.

Just a bunch of bones piled on each other..

That's what I thought first time down.

Second time I used my senses and looked properly. It's not just a bunch of bones, it's a bunch of people. You can see who was young and who was old, who was sick and who was healthy; in some you can see signs of unnatural death. And the accumulation of that lot, and used for decoration, can be kind of overwhelming. That is what we will be.

 

[Dawg]

In 2005, some Odessa teens decided to spend NYE partying in the catacombs. One girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. She spent 3 days wandering in the freezing cold and pitch black before she died of dehydration. It took two years before the police were able to locate her body and retrieve it from the catacombs.

Pic of said catacombs:

Nightmare fuel.

 

[Windam]

I'm guessing you haven't been there then?

I wouldn't. Science or not.

Nope. Never been to France, actually. Would love to go.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

In 2005, some Odessa teens decided to spend NYE partying in the catacombs. One girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. She spent 3 days wandering in the freezing cold and pitch black before she died of dehydration. It took two years before the police were able to locate her body and retrieve it from the catacombs.

Pic of said catacombs:

Nightmare fuel.

Actually was just reading about it on reddit. She was found 8 months after she got lost by other people. They told the cops. Cops didn't care until somebody wrote an article 2 years later and removed the corpse.

 

[gdt]

Goddamn.

I didn't even know this existed.

 

[SmokeMaxX]

In 2005, some Odessa teens decided to spend NYE partying in the catacombs. One girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. She spent 3 days wandering in the freezing cold and pitch black before she died of dehydration. It took two years before the police were able to locate her body and retrieve it from the catacombs.

Pic of said catacombs:

Nightmare fuel.

Damn. Paris was home to some big ass ants confirmed.

 

[Wind's Howling]

So, what is the general history of those catacombs? Was it because of the plague and they needed a place to bury people?

 

[Dawg]

Damn. Paris was home to some big ass ants confirmed.

Nah, my story is about the catacombs in Odessa (Russia)

Total range is 1500 miles I believe.

 

[phisheep]

So, what is the general history of those catacombs? Was it because of the plague and they needed a place to bury people?

So far as I recall it is a mixture of two things: the old city sewer system (which ran under the streets and was labelled accordingly), and the relocation of bones from the cemeteries when Paris was redesigned by Hausmann. Something like that anyway. The result is long windy corridors leading to churches and altars built of human bones.

 

[Dawg]

Can you imagine it? Walking alone in utter darkness, just your hand on the wall. Your mouth dry from dehydration, your throat and lungs burning from the rank air and the countless hours of screaming for help. Your feet blistered messes and your legs sore to the point of exhaustion. Just walking. Nothing around you but solid darkness and cold damp walls in every direction. You’d have so much time to reflect on your life, everyone you’ve known, every event replaying over in your head. Somewhere along the line it hits you: “You aren’t getting out.” I wonder if she broke down and stopped moving on, giving in to despair or dehydration, sobbing to herself as she slumped to the cold hard ground. Nothing to comfort her, nothing to give hope. Or perhaps she kept going until she physically could not, driven by either the hallucinations that gave her false promise of salvation, or by the sheer will to live, keeping her going until she finally collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration. I also wonder if the rats started to eat her before she was completely dead.

 

[~Kinggi~]

They should make a game like the Forrest except a Catacombs simulator. Randomize the maze and throw fucking scary shit in there.

 

[phisheep]

Can you imagine it? Walking alone in utter darkness, just your hand on the wall. Your mouth dry from dehydration, your throat and lungs burning from the rank air and the countless hours of screaming for help. Your feet blistered messes and your legs sore to the point of exhaustion. Just walking. Nothing around you but solid darkness and cold damp walls in every direction. You’d have so much time to reflect on your life, everyone you’ve known, every event replaying over in your head. Somewhere along the line it hits you: “You aren’t getting out.” I wonder if she broke down and stopped moving on, giving in to despair or dehydration, sobbing to herself as she slumped to the cold hard ground. Nothing to comfort her, nothing to give hope. Or perhaps she kept going until she physically could not, driven by either the hallucinations that gave her false promise of salvation, or by the sheer will to live, keeping her going until she finally collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration. I also wonder if the rats started to eat her before she was completely dead.

Yeah, don't overplay it or anything Dawg.

p.s. you missed out the stuff about the bones.

 

[Windam]

Can you imagine it? Walking alone in utter darkness, just your hand on the wall. Your mouth dry from dehydration, your throat and lungs burning from the rank air and the countless hours of screaming for help. Your feet blistered messes and your legs sore to the point of exhaustion. Just walking. Nothing around you but solid darkness and cold damp walls in every direction. You’d have so much time to reflect on your life, everyone you’ve known, every event replaying over in your head. Somewhere along the line it hits you: “You aren’t getting out.” I wonder if she broke down and stopped moving on, giving in to despair or dehydration, sobbing to herself as she slumped to the cold hard ground. Nothing to comfort her, nothing to give hope. Or perhaps she kept going until she physically could not, driven by either the hallucinations that gave her false promise of salvation, or by the sheer will to live, keeping her going until she finally collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration. I also wonder if the rats started to eat her before she was completely dead.

._. welp

Dawg my dawg, let's do this. Let us explore the Paris Catacombs together.

 

[iNvid02]

I think ac unity will have the catacombs to explore, I wonder how accurate they'll be. Nothing like some virtual tourism

 

[Skellig Gra]

I went there on my last visit to Paris. Really cool place. Can't imagine what it would have been like in the 1800s. If you ever go to Paris make sure you check it out.

 

[MechDX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-KIzzF3S0o

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870612/

 

[Ahasverus]

Can you imagine it? Walking alone in utter darkness, just your hand on the wall. Your mouth dry from dehydration, your throat and lungs burning from the rank air and the countless hours of screaming for help. Your feet blistered messes and your legs sore to the point of exhaustion. Just walking. Nothing around you but solid darkness and cold damp walls in every direction. You’d have so much time to reflect on your life, everyone you’ve known, every event replaying over in your head. Somewhere along the line it hits you: “You aren’t getting out.” I wonder if she broke down and stopped moving on, giving in to despair or dehydration, sobbing to herself as she slumped to the cold hard ground. Nothing to comfort her, nothing to give hope. Or perhaps she kept going until she physically could not, driven by either the hallucinations that gave her false promise of salvation, or by the sheer will to live, keeping her going until she finally collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration. I also wonder if the rats started to eat her before she was completely dead.

I hate you

 

[Dawg]

._. welp

Dawg my dawg, let's do this. Let us explore the Paris Catacombs together.

If we get lost, at least we'll die together.

 

[Nameless]

In 2005, some Odessa teens decided to spend NYE partying in the catacombs. One girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. She spent 3 days wandering in the freezing cold and pitch black before she died of dehydration. It took two years before the police were able to locate her body and retrieve it from the catacombs.

Pic of said catacombs:

Nightmare fuel.

God fucking damn. That moment when your cell phone battery dies and you're forced to accept just how fucked you are. Horrifying.

 

[Sectorseven]

Like something straight out of Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[Windam]

If we get lost, at least we'll die together.

Bros to the end.

C'mere, you.

God fucking damn. That moment when your cell phone battery dies and you're forced to accept just how fucked you are. Horrifying.

This is why Nokia should have gone with Android.

 

[phisheep]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-KIzzF3S0o

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870612/

See, this is what I regret about the internet days.

Once upon a time you'd maybe hear about the catacombs from a relative, or from reading an article somewhere, and probably they'd suggest that you visit but not be too explicit about what's there; and just maybe you'd be eventually in Paris and want to follow it up and brave the strange opening times and suffer the first 2 kilometers walk through boring sewers and wonder if it was all a con, and then you'd walk through that archway ("Welcome to the Empire of the Dead" or something like that) and have your mind and senses completely blown away.

Now there are images on Google and videos on Youtube. And they are nothing compared to seeing the real thing, first time, by surprise, not knowing what was there. Takes away the shock and awe somehow.

Same as Google Earth Streetview takes away the shock and awe of visiting my garden - but not quite so much shock and awe and perhaps in the opposite direction.

 

[SmokeMaxX]

Nah, my story is about the catacombs in Odessa (Russia)

Total range is 1500 miles I believe.

Damn. Russia overrun with some mutant Cherbonyl ants confirmed haha.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Nah, my story is about the catacombs in Odessa (Russia)

Total range is 1500 miles I believe.

Isn't Odessa in Ukraine?
Edit: not that it really matters to the point of the story

 

[maxcriden]

There are some (illegal) parties that take place in the Catacombs sometimes. Never been to one myself as I don't know if I could take it. Needless to say if you're claustrophobic, you should just forget about it.

Here's an article about it (with good pictures) and another one (with short videos). Both are in french.

Such lies. Not only has Grizzo been to these soirees, he regularly hosts them!

 

[AlteredForms]

Isn't it illegal to enter the tunnels anyway? Besides, I can't imagine a French officer entering the tunnels in order to look for the people. "Fu*k this, I'm getting out of here. Au Revoir.

 

[mltplkxr]

Here's a cool article about the scene around the Paris catacombs intertwined with the story of a group who secretly fixes complicated things for fun :
http://gizmodo.com/5794199/unlocking-the-mystery-of-paris-most-secret-underground-society-combined

 

[terrisus]

Same as Google Earth Streetview takes away the shock and awe of visiting my garden

Aww, I must've missed the "Bookmark phisheep's garden's Google Earth Streetview" invitation thread.

 

[Zoille]

If you stick to the part opened to visit, it's perfectly safe.
Just silently sit on a bench on the side and watch people scream when they turn their head and notice you.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

Currently watching this, first video I found when searching on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxJkMlqYrys

Fucking terrifying.