HAUNTED: The Paris Catacombs

Beneath the streets of Paris lies a labyrinth packed with the bones of more than six million people—relocated centuries ago when the city's cemeteries overflowed. Today, visitors descend into the darkness and come back with stories: disembodied whispers, footsteps in empty passages, the feeling of being watched. Some are convinced the restless dead never left. Others say the mind simply unravels in the silence. But one question lingers in those tunnels: are the catacombs truly haunted… or is it the living who can't be trusted down there?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  When an intruder approaches a home, they expect a camera. What they don't expect. Stop, this is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way. Using smart AI cameras, live US-based agents help deter intruders in under 30 seconds. Don't just record a break-in, stop it from ever happening. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 60% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/truecrime. 30 seconds response time requires monitoring plan with outdoor protection starting at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 0:32Rasha Pecoraro?

  The famous French novelist Victor Hugo, who wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Mis, once said, quote, "Breathe Paris in, it nourishes the soul." And guess what? He wasn't wrong. There's something about Paris that captures your heart. Every corner feels timeless, romantic, and full of history. From wandering through its breathtaking architecture, to getting lost in the halls of the Louvre, and the food. Give me escargot and palm frites and a café to sit at and watch the world go by? I am in heaven, y'all.

• 1:13Rasha Pecoraro?

  Paris is just one of those places that stays with you long after you've left. But when you're there, you just feel so alive. Yet, beneath the cafés, the cobblestone streets, and the lights reflecting off the Seine, Paris is hiding something. Hundreds of miles of tunnels carved out of the earth long before the city above them existed, and lining the walls as far as the eye can see are the remains of more than 6 million people.

• 1:52Rasha Pecoraro?

  The catacombs are the one part of Paris that will make you feel the opposite of alive. More like the Grim Reaper himself. The stone walls are stacked with human skulls arranged into sculptures. And no matter where you turn, the bones never stop. There are signs on the walls with messages in French, warning visitors that death is coming for them too. But maybe death isn't the end. Because according to countless visitors and tour guides, the Paris catacombs are incredibly haunted. And if you're not careful, you might find yourself joining the spirits who lurk there for all of eternity. I'm Rasha Pecoraro.

• 2:37Yvette Gentile?

  And I'm Yvette Jin-Dile. Welcome back to another episode of So Supernatural.

• 3:13Rasha Pecoraro?

  If you've ever planned a trip to Paris, you already know the bucket list. It's definitely on mine. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre. There's almost too much to see, which might explain why roughly 50 million tourists go to Paris every year. It's one of the most visited cities on earth. And it's not just tourists. Paris is one of the major economic engines of Europe. International banks, global fashion houses, some of the biggest names in tech all have a huge presence in the city. Paris Fashion Week alone draws the entire industry to its doorstep twice a year.

• 3:55Rasha Pecoraro?

  By every measure, Paris is a booming city. Which is pretty remarkable, since it all grew from a swamp.

• 4:05Yvette Gentile?

  And Rasha's right. In 52 BCE, when ancient Roman soldiers arrived on the banks of the Seine, they didn't find a gleaming metropolis. They found murky waterlogged land that was home to an indigenous tribe called the Parisi. The Romans conquered them, claimed the territory as their own, and built a fort to defend it. That fort, or what's left of it, is still there today. Tucked into what's now known as the Latin Quarter. With time, that fort expanded into a town and then a city. The Romans gave it an official name. Lutetia, derived from the Latin word for mud or swamp.

• 4:49Yvette Gentile?

  Which tells you everything you need to know about what they thought of the place. In ancient times, the Romans were mainly interested in the territory because it was rich with limestone. It could be used to build houses and other buildings. So soldiers built mines just outside of the city to gather as much as they could. When the empire eventually fell, residents renamed it after the people the Romans had displaced. The Parisi. And that's how Lutetia became Paris.

• 5:23Rasha Pecoraro?

  As the years went by, the city grew. Paris's borders expanded outward, getting closer to the mines. In the meantime, the tunnels also kept growing. Each time workers needed to find a new limestone deposit, they'd dig a little deeper and carve out new caverns and tunnels. Most estimates say they were about 200 miles long. Eventually, people began building homes, businesses, streets, and parks right on top of these existing mines. But by the 1700s, many of these caverns were centuries old and not very stable. It was only a matter of time before they crumbled.

• 6:05Yvette Gentile?

  And that day came in 1774. The ground gave way underneath a public square called Rue d'Enfer, which roughly translates into English as Hell Square. These days, it's not too far from the catacomb's exit. The sinkholes swallowed part of a city block. Houses and buildings collapsed into the mile-long trench. Many Parisians were terrified after hearing the news. Was this the fate for the entire city? Were other tunnels due to collapse soon? And because record-keeping was so poor back then, no one knew for sure if they were living right on top of one.

• 6:48Yvette Gentile?

  So shortly after the collapse, around late 1774 or early 1775, King Louis XVI hired architects to explore the mines and identify weak spots. These surveys took roughly three years to complete. And while they were working, people's fears came true. More tunnels collapsed all throughout Paris.

• 7:15Rasha Pecoraro?

  Including one that appeared on April 24, 1777. It was small, but it was a huge concern because it was very close to the center of the city. That's when the architects warned the king. Sinkholes were going to keep appearing. Paris was in danger of being swallowed up. Unless they hired teams of engineers to map and reinforce all of the tunnels. It would be time-consuming and very expensive. But it was the only way to save the capital.

• 7:47Yvette Gentile?

  Well, it turns out, King Louis was dealing with another major problem at the time. One that would also require money and effort. Paris's graveyards were becoming dangerously overcrowded. The city had existed for over 1,500 years by that point. There were more dead people buried in the city than there were alive. People were being buried on top of each other. Stone tombs were breaking open because they were overstuffed. In 1780, a wall collapsed in a restaurant's basement, and dead bodies fell through the hole. As it turned out, the restaurant was right next door to a graveyard

• 8:30Yvette Gentile?

  that had been so packed full, the remains were literally spilling over onto other properties. I mean, something needed to be done. So in 1785, King Louis decided to kill two birds with one stone. He made it illegal to bury any new bodies anywhere in the city. He also ordered all of the remains to be removed from the city's most overcrowded graveyards, and placed in the mining shafts beneath the city. This worked out to be about 6 million people in total.

• 9:09Rasha Pecoraro?

  The project took two years. Grave diggers worked overnight because they thought it would be too disturbing for ordinary Parisians to see dead bodies exhumed and brought to the mines in the light of day. Then, they just piled the remains into the tunnels. The remains were treated more like rubbish than once-living people.

• 9:32Rasha Pecoraro?

  And more were added every year. The people of Paris still needed somewhere to bury new bodies, so they were thrown into the mining tunnels after their funerals. Many Parisians failed to treat the mines like a tomb at all, especially in 1787, when the French Revolution began.

• 9:53Yvette Gentile?

  To make a complicated chapter of history short, the people of France wanted a democracy, not a monarchy. They'd already heard about the American colonists successfully rebelling against Great Britain. And at that time, the French economy was weak. A bad harvest year meant food was very expensive, and people couldn't afford to feed their families. To make a bad situation worse, the king and queen tried to raise taxes to make up for that weak economy. And the people who could barely afford to survive had had enough. The rebels needed somewhere to meet. Somewhere, the government couldn't find them. And according to some sources,

• 10:37Yvette Gentile?

  they found the perfect hiding place beneath the city, in the same dark sprawling tunnels as those buried bodies. Down there, in the dark, a revolution was planned. For two years, unrest simmered above ground. Nobles scrambled to offer reforms, hoping to suppress the uprising before it consumed them. But it didn't work. The people kept pushing, attacking palaces, government buildings, and prisons, tearing down the old world piece by piece. Finally, August 4, 1789,

• 11:18Yvette Gentile?

  marked the abolition of feudalism and the end of an old regime. But the French Revolution itself continued for another decade. Four years later, in 1793, the king and queen were beheaded. And there was a lot of infighting and political turmoil afterward. Too much for us to unpack right now, but it's just fair to say that a new era had begun.

• 11:50Rasha Pecoraro?

  The new government understood that portions of the mining tunnels still needed to be reinforced. So they picked up where they left off. It took roughly 20 years, but finally, on July 1, 1809, the tunnels opened to the public. People no longer had to sneak in to plan political revolutions. If someone wanted to pay their respects to an ancestor, they could file for a special permit and make an appointment to go underground. Still, the tunnel visits were risky because the stacks of bodies inside were unstable. So were the mine walls, which hadn't been entirely reinforced yet. Plus, the underground chambers were maze-like and poorly lit.

• 12:35Rasha Pecoraro?

  It was easy for visitors to get lost or even injured. So in 1810, a famous engineer named Louis Etienne Ericard de Toury decided something had to change. It wasn't fair to the deceased to leave them lying in a hole or to make their loved ones wander through the dark, maze-like mine shafts when they wanted to pay their respects. Unfortunately, he couldn't give these skeletons traditional burials. There was no way to identify the deceased in the mines. So instead, Louis Etienne rearranged the remains and turned them into works of art. In some cases, Louis Etienne and his colleagues

• 13:18Rasha Pecoraro?

  literally built walls out of bones and skulls. They stacked them in neat rows until the tunnels seemed to be lined floor to ceiling with bones. Some of these walls had patterns within them. Like one area, called the heart of skulls, where 14 skulls are arranged in a perfect heart shape, surrounded by more bones that hold it in place. Other formations were more elaborate. The tunnels were dotted with columns and barrel-shaped sculptures made entirely of disassembled skeletons. They also made plaques explaining which graveyards they'd pulled bodies from and placed in that area.

• 14:01Rasha Pecoraro?

  And they surrounded those plaques with more skulls, almost like a mosaic. When it was all said and done, only a small part of the area was renovated, about one mile's worth. The area open to the public had only one official entrance and one official exit.

• 14:20Yvette Gentile?

  Beyond that, there were more than 200 miles of tunnels that were still off limits. Officials couldn't guarantee these underground passageways were safe and stable, even after the renovations. There was still a risk that certain chambers might collapse. Because of the risk, they felt it was safer to keep visitors in a smaller stretch that could be tracked and monitored. But the locals didn't always follow these restrictions. People kept going into the forbidden parts of the catacombs. And in those chambers, far off the beaten path, they reportedly found something even more unsettling than ancient remains:

• 15:03Yvette Gentile?

  the souls that once inhabited them.

• 15:11Speaker 00

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• 15:17Speaker 03

  Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way.

• 15:20Speaker 00

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• 15:35Speaker 03

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• 15:42Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Ashley Flowers.

• 15:43Speaker 05

  And I'm Britt. And if you're on the edge of your seat listening to this show, Crime Junkie needs to be your next listen.

• 15:49Speaker 04

  Every Monday, I dive into a new true crime case that our reporting team has been on the ground looking into. From lesser-known disappearances to the most chilling cases hitting the headlines. And I'm going to walk you through it the way I tell my best friend, because, well, that's what I'm doing.

• 16:05Speaker 05

  Yeah, that's me. And I'm right there with you as we listen together, react to every wild detail, and of course, I ask all the questions.

• 16:13Speaker 04

  And I'm going to have the answers because we have case files. We're talking to detectives and family members, and we're going to stay focused on the facts.

• 16:20Speaker 05

  So if you're not already listening to Crime Junkie, what are you waiting for? There are over 300 episodes available right now.

• 16:26Speaker 04

  And you can listen to new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts.

• 16:37Rasha Pecoraro?

  In 1810, roughly one mile of the Paris catacombs opened to the public. But not everyone stuck to that area like they were supposed to. A small community called cataphiles formed, people who went into the forbidden tunnels to explore just for the thrill of it. Many of them identified entrances that were well off the beaten path. Many were outside of the city. Some were tucked away in railroad tunnels or abandoned mine shafts. Sometimes the passageways were so small and poorly maintained, explorers would have to crawl through them on their hands and knees. But once the cataphiles got inside, they had the whole city at their fingertips.

• 17:21Rasha Pecoraro?

  They learned how to navigate underground, which tunnels connected to one another, and how to get to any destination in the city from the mines.

• 17:31Yvette Gentile?

  These skills came in handy during World War II. In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded France, and they quickly defeated the French army and took control of the country. Almost immediately, another resistance movement started up. The French people met in secret. They published newspapers exposing German propaganda. They created fake IDs for Jewish people so they could avoid being deported or sent to concentration camps. The Resistance also collaborated with Allied forces and sometimes committed terrorist acts against German leaders. And they often gathered in the catacombs under Paris,

• 18:15Yvette Gentile?

  specifically in the tunnels that were supposed to be off limits to the public, much like the soldiers did in the French Revolution. In 1944, Allied armies planned to invade France, and word got to the Resistance ahead of time, so members plotted, prepped, and sabotaged German equipment. The Nazis weren't prepared when battles broke out, and France's allies had an easier time of beating them. By August 25, Paris was liberated. The people of France were free again. Except many of them continued to sneak into the off-limit parts of the catacombs, not for political activism, but for fun.

• 19:01Yvette Gentile?

  And some of them came back with stories, stories about things that they couldn't explain, things that they saw or heard or felt down there in the dark. Because as it turns out, the catacombs don't just hold bones. According to those who know them best, they held something else entirely.

• 19:25Rasha Pecoraro?

  Some of the first tales date back to the height of the French Revolution. It started on November 3rd, 1793, when a doorman named Philibert Aspierre went missing. He worked at a local hospital in Paris. And given all of the political unrest at the time, his disappearance wasn't a high priority for police or city officials. They didn't even bother to investigate his case. So it went unsolved for 11 years. In 1804, before Louis Etienne's installations, a group of construction workers descended into the Paris catacombs. It's unclear what they were working on, but the tunnel they were in was off limits to the public.

• 20:10Rasha Pecoraro?

  There, the construction workers stumbled on a body they weren't expecting. It looked different from the others because it wasn't as badly decomposed. Plus, it was wearing clothes that looked more modern. And it wasn't in a pile with the other remains. It was on the ground, seemingly as though the person had dropped dead in the middle of their journey. When the construction workers searched the body, they found a key ring with the name of a local hospital printed on it. So they presumably notified the police, who concluded this was Philibert Aspierre, the missing doorman. It still wasn't clear how he'd ended up underground,

• 20:53Rasha Pecoraro?

  but the investigators had a theory. On the night he went missing, they believed he'd snuck into the tunnels. Though, nobody knew why. Philibert wasn't the explorer type, but he found himself lost in the catacombs. He could have been down there for hours or days searching for an exit. But since the tunnels weren't lit, he couldn't find a way out. He likely collapsed from exhaustion or dehydration, which caused his death. And his body went undiscovered for the next 11 years. One of the most tragic details of this story is that his remains were found just a few short feet from the exit.

• 21:36Rasha Pecoraro?

  If Philibert had made it just a little bit further, he could have survived. The construction workers placed a plaque on the wall near the place where his body was found. And it stayed there through later renovations. His grave is the only individually marked one in all of the catacombs, likely because his body is one of the only ones that could be identified. Today, that section of the tunnel is still closed to the public. But catafiles know exactly where it is and how to get there. Every November 3rd, on the anniversary of his disappearance, they gather near his final resting place and pay their respects to Philibert.

• 22:20Rasha Pecoraro?

  And something in that tunnel seems to respond to it.

• 22:25Yvette Gentile?

  That's right. You see, many visitors report strange sensations inside the catacombs. Some of them experience intense oppressive feelings of sadness and a heavy weight that's pressing down on them. There are also accounts of a shadowy figure appearing near the plaque itself. People have reported seeing a man who appears to be stumbling through the dark. His hands are extended in front of him like he's feeling his way forward. And he desperately grasps at the empty air as he walks. Rumor has it, it's Philibert's ghost still searching for a way out.

• 23:08Yvette Gentile?

  Others have seen a man wandering through the tunnels, dressed in old timey clothing. But he's usually only visible for a few seconds before he fades away. Many believe he's the spirit of a quarry worker who helped in the mines before they became catacombs. But thanks to poorer record-keeping from that era, it's impossible to say who he was or even how he died. There are also accounts of a woman dressed all in white who frequently walks through the caverns. She lingers near the sculptures, looking the skulls over one by one. It's like she's searching for a particular set of remains.

• 23:52Yvette Gentile?

  Some think that she's searching for a long-lost loved one who was actually buried there. Another theory says she was a noblewoman in the late 1700s who during the revolution fled into the tunnels to escape an angry mob. And inside, she became so disoriented and died before she could even find her way back out. Each time the lady in white appears, the tunnel is said to become incredibly cold. And the people who spot her often feel a wave of intense sadness. But the lady in white seems to be a friendly ghost because she often appears to visitors who have become lost or turned around.

• 24:35Rasha Pecoraro?

  Others report the sound of a child crying in the tunnels, but they can never find where the noise is coming from. Some have reported seeing spirits dressed in clothes from the era of the French Revolution, either dressed in rebel uniforms or as royalists. It's said that whenever someone lays eyes on a revolutionary soldier, regardless of which uniform he's wearing, this spirit will simply fade away until there's no sign he was ever there at all. There are also accounts of disembodied footsteps or moans echoing throughout the chambers, or of singing. Specifically, several maintenance workers and catafiles

• 25:18Rasha Pecoraro?

  have heard what sounds like a church choir chanting old hymns. And these songs are only audible when the catacombs are completely empty of visitors. When people try to walk toward the music to find out where it's coming from, it tends to fade away into nothing.

• 25:37Yvette Gentile?

  There are some who say they get the eerie sensation that they're being watched, even when they're the only one in a particular stretch of the tunnel. They might feel the gaze of an invisible spirit. But some people believe the catacombs themselves are alive and sentient. Legend says that they feed on fear. They want visitors to feel nervous or even panicky. So they make noises or create shadows just to unsettle people.

• 26:10Rasha Pecoraro?

  We don't know how many people have fallen victim to the catacombs. But one particular incident in the 1990s drove home just how dangerous the tunnels could be. Because around that time, someone encountered something strange, maybe even demonic, in the chambers. And he got it all on film.

• 26:38Speaker 00

  The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables. It's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 60% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/truecrime. Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 27:09Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Ashley Flowers.

• 27:11Speaker 05

  And I'm Britt. And if you're on the edge of your seat listening to this show, Crime Junkie needs to be your next listen.

• 27:17Speaker 04

  Every Monday, I dive into a new true crime case that our reporting team has been on the ground looking into. From lesser-known disappearances to the most chilling cases hitting the headlines. And I'm going to walk you through it the way I tell my best friend. Because, well, that's what I'm doing.

• 27:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, that's me. And I'm right there with you as we listen together, react to every wild detail, and of course, I ask all the questions.

• 27:40Speaker 04

  And I'm going to have the answers because we have case files. We're talking to detectives and family members. And we're going to stay focused on the facts.

• 27:47Speaker 05

  So if you're not already listening to Crime Junkie, what are you waiting for? There are over 300 episodes available right now.

• 27:54Speaker 04

  And you can listen to new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts.

• 28:04Yvette Gentile?

  À un moment donné dans les débuts des années 1990, un groupe de cataphiles explorait les tunnels sous Paris. Nous ne savons pas leurs noms parce qu'ils ne voulaient pas que leur information soit publique. Mais à un moment donné pendant leur aventure, les explorateurs ont remarqué quelque chose de bizarre. Il y avait un camcorder sur le sol. Et pour ceux d'entre vous qui ne savent pas ce qu'est un camcorder, c'est en gros un enregistreur vidéo. Je dis juste ça. Il n'y avait pas de signe de qui l'avait laissé, et ils ne pouvaient pas dire combien de temps il y avait. Mais quand ils ont regardé à l'intérieur, ils ont vu qu'il y avait un tape.

• 28:43Rasha Pecoraro?

  La vidéo montrait un homme qui explorait cette même longueur de tunnel. Il semblait être sur le voyage seul. La vidéo montrait lui se déplier sur les voies non équilibrées, se déplacer dans les passages en forme de maze, et traverser les tunnels qui étaient obscurs. La seule lumière venait du camcorder. Parfois, il enregistrait des graffitis scrotés sur les murs. Il inclut des lettres, des arrows, et des symboles étranges qui ne pouvaient pas être interprétés. Peut-être des messages laissés par les cataphiles précédents. De toute façon, l'homme semblait être dans un bon état, au moins au début du voyage.

• 29:24Yvette Gentile?

  Nous ne savons pas combien il a aventure parce qu'il ne filmait pas continuellement. Mais à un moment donné, le filmage a commencé à se perdre. Son état a changé comme il a réalisé qu'il ne savait pas comment sortir. Il respirait très fort comme la peur s'y mettait. Et puis l'homme s'est fait avancer, presque courant comme il a sauté dans les tunnels, en faisant des tournures plus ou moins au hasard. Sauf qu'il devint plus confus et désorienté. Il a commencé à rambler et à ne pas faire de sens. Dans d'autres parties du tape, les auditeurs pouvaient entendre un ressuscitation d'air qui ne semblait pas provenir du filmage.

• 30:05Yvette Gentile?

  Au lieu de cela, quelque chose semblait le suivre quand il courait. La vidéo conclut avec l'homme la caméra et le tape s'arrêtant. Donc il était impossible de dire ce qui s'est passé après ça. Les cataphiles ont donné le tape à un ami qui a fait public avec ce qu'il a trouvé. La vidéo a été diffusée sur Internet et a été envoyée sur les journaux de presse dans le monde. A ce jour, l'homme dans la vidéo n'a jamais été identifié. Nous n'avons pas de moyen de savoir s'il a échappé aux catacombes ou s'il est mort sous la terre.

• 30:44Rasha Pecoraro?

  Ce qui signifie que tout cela était peut-être un piège. Un blogueur sceptique appelé Jacob Robinson a suggéré qu'il y ait quelqu'un qui a scrit et enregistré la vidéo, en se prétendant perdre dans les tunnels. Puis ils ont publié le tape, prétendant qu'il avait été trouvé dans les catacombes juste pour faire des bêtises avec les gens ou peut-être pour gagner un buck. Sauf que beaucoup croient que les clips étaient réels. Enfin, les stations de presse de réputation comme ABC ont diffusé la vidéo. Et les événements du tape semblent si believable. Vu que les tunnels sont si longs et en forme de maze, il n'est pas difficile de croire que certaines personnes seraient perdues dans eux et paniquent, comme il le faisait.

• 31:28Yvette Gentile?

  Il y a des gens qui croient que les catacombes ont fait rire l'homme. Je veux dire, après tout, les rumeurs disent que les murs des tunnels eux-mêmes peuvent parler. Ce qui pourrait aussi expliquer la voix de l'enregistrement. Mais selon un blogueur de la site web de voyage, le livret de guide Tour Guy, les murs parlent seulement après la mi-noire. Ils prétendent que les voix encouragent toujours les visiteurs à s'éloigner de la voie cassée, à descendre les passages qui les amènent plus loin des sorties. Ils encouragent les gens à se perdre. La bonne nouvelle est que ces cris ne posent aucun risque à un touristique ordinaire.

• 32:11Yvette Gentile?

  Les portions publiques des catacombes sont ouvertes seulement jusqu'à 8h30 la nuit. Donc les visiteurs ont beaucoup de temps pour voir les tunnels et sortir de là bien avant la mi-noire. Et il est assez difficile de s'enfuir des zones touristes amies dans les parties interdites des catacombes. Les autorités françaises ont bloqué ou fermé les chambres et les sorties. Ils ne veulent pas que les touristes aient aventure.

• 32:36Rasha Pecoraro?

  Si vous achetez un billet pour un tour, vous êtes guidé par une ancienne escalade spirale. Les escalades arrivent à un bout quand vous êtes 60 pieds sous la terre. Là, les chefs de mines sont froids et un peu sec. Un signe hangue sur l'unique et unique sortie. Quand traduit en anglais, il lit : "Arrêtez ! C'est l'empire de la mort." Si vous ignorez le avertissement et avancez, vous vous trouverez traversant une longue et ronde tunnel profond dans la terre. C'est obscur. Il n'y a pas beaucoup d'air frais, et certaines personnes se battent pour gagner leur respiration ici.

• 33:15Rasha Pecoraro?

  Et c'est tout avant que vous ne atteigniez les chambres qui sont alignées de la surface à la surface avec des os.

• 33:22Yvette Gentile?

  Les tunnels rongent plus profondément et plus profondément jusqu'à vous être à 65 pieds sous la terre. C'est l'équivalent de être à environ six étages en bas. Si ça sonne intense, tout le monde, juste être heureux que vous ne soyez pas dans les autres tunnels non publics. À certains moments, ils peuvent tomber des centaines de pieds sous le niveau de la rue. Dans cet environnement, il est naturel que votre imagination commence à vous jouer des trucs. Les niveaux d'oxygène inférieurs ici peuvent provoquer des hallucinations aussi. En plus, les bruits peuvent se balancer sur les murs des tunnels de manières imprévisibles. Parce que la façon dont le son se déplace,

• 34:04Yvette Gentile?

  il peut sonner comme quelqu'un est juste à côté de vous quand ils sont en fait dans un autre corridor. Donc, il n'est pas étonnant que tant de gens pensent qu'ils voient et écoutent des choses en bas dans les catacombes.

• 34:19Rasha Pecoraro?

  Cependant, vous ne pouvez pas expliquer de toute une sighting avec la psychologie. Les rencontres de fantômes dans les catacombes semblent trop cohérentes pour être toutes des hallucinations. Depuis des décennies, les visiteurs ont vu les mêmes esprits faire les mêmes choses. Ils ne peuvent pas tous les imaginer. Au lieu de cela, il est totalement possible que les fantômes soient attirés par les catacombes parce que c'est ce qui se passe quand vous enfeuillez 6 millions de personnes dans un endroit. Certains chercheurs paranormaux disent que les esprits sont inquiets parce qu'ils ont été retirés de leurs tombeaux originaux. Leurs os sont entassés et affichés sans marque de tombe. Leurs restes sont traités comme une attraction touristique

• 35:03Rasha Pecoraro?

  plutôt que avec le respect qu'ils méritent. Donc leurs esprits sont donc condamnés à parcourir les catacombes en recherche d'un endroit de repos final.

• 35:13Yvette Gentile?

  Il est aussi possible que les esprits restent ici parce que c'est très associé à la mort. Pas seulement parce des corps, mais parce d'autres tragédies qui ont eu lieu dans les catacombes. Comme la mort de Philibert Aspierre, le gardien qui a été trouvé dans les catacombes 11 ans après sa disparition. Il y a eu aussi des crimes documentés dans les catacombes. Les cataphiles disent que les muggings sous la terre se passent plus souvent que vous pensez. Les parraineurs probablement savent que ils peuvent se sortir parce qu'il y a très peu de témoins autour. Certains cataphiles ont même créé des entreprises illégales en bas.

• 35:56Yvette Gentile?

  Qui sont, disons, vraiment difficiles à trouver, à moins que vous ne connaissez exactement où regarder.

• 36:04Rasha Pecoraro?

  En 2004, certains agents de police marchaient dans les tunnels quand ils ont découvert un théâtre filmé sous la terre. Si vous imaginez quelque chose comme un vieux projecteur et quelques chaises de bagage, réfléchissez à nouveau. C'était une configuration incroyablement moderne et elaborate. Quelqu'un avait fait courir des fils dans la zone de théâtre pour qu'ils aient de l'électricité. Le théâtre avait même un genre de zone de concession. Quand la police a traversé, ils ont vu un four à pression chauffant un coussou pour un screening à venir. La police n'a pas trouvé personne dans le théâtre, donc ils ne savaient pas qui l'operait ou qui étaient leurs clients.

• 36:46Rasha Pecoraro?

  Mais ils ont vu une caméra de sécurité en enregistrant. Les agents ont supposé que qui a conduit ce théâtre savait qu'ils avaient été tue. Ils ont forcément vu qu'ils étaient sur la caméra en live. Parce que quand les agents sont revenus avec des renforçements trois jours plus tard, chaque trace du théâtre était partie. La scène, les sièges, les concessions, l'électricité, il y avait tout été emballé et échangé. Il y avait seulement un signe que le théâtre avait jamais existé dans le premier lieu. Une note était tenue sur l'entrée et traduite en anglais. Elle lit : "Ne essayez pas de nous trouver."

• 37:27Rasha Pecoraro?

  That wasn't the last time the police busted illegal operations in the catacombs. There were many reports of officials breaking up illegal raves and parties, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The catafiles know those tunnels better than anyone, and most of them were gone long before the officers even got close. Yvette and I have never personally been to the catacombs, but we know our biggest fan, the one and only Lolo, who is the exact person who inspired this episode, has.

• 38:04Yvette Gentile?

  That's right.

• 38:04Rasha Pecoraro?

  Right, Yvette?

• 38:05Yvette Gentile?

  Yes, and Lolo shared so much of her adventure. Like, in so many things that we just talked about, she confirmed. She said that when she was down there, she felt like there was a presence down there, and there were eyes, like, watching her, even though they're all skeletons, right, that have no eyes. And she said that she would walk through certain parts of the tunnel, and it would get really, really cold. So she said that she could feel that mana, that energy, that was down there. And I asked her, I said, you know, for me, I get claustrophobic. So what do I need to do to prepare myself to go down there? And she said, well, you just have to take some deep breaths,

• 38:48Yvette Gentile?

  and then, once you get down there, you know, you'll be okay. And she said, something she said that was really important. She said, "You just have to have respect for all those people that are down there." I mean, this, this girl just steals my heart every time. Like, she is just an old soul. So, thank you, Lolo, for sharing, and maybe one day, we can all go back together.

• 39:15Rasha Pecoraro?

  That would be amazing. And if any of you So Supernatural listeners have been to the Paris catacombs, we want to know. Please let us know on social media.

• 39:26Yvette Gentile?

  Well, what we know for sure is this. Six million people are resting in those walls. People who once walked the streets of Paris above, who loved and lived fully, and dreamed and fought revolutions. And now they're there, in the dark, in silence. Death is one thing none of us can avoid. None of us know how it will happen, when it will come, or what waits for us on the other side. But the people of Paris figured something out a long time ago. You can build a beautiful city anyway. You can fill it with food and art and light.

• 40:11Yvette Gentile?

  You can fall in love. You chase something worth chasing. Meanwhile, the catacombs will always be there, just below the surface. But up above, Paris is still sparkling, still thriving. And maybe, just maybe, that's the entire point.

• 40:43Rasha Pecoraro?

  This is So Supernatural, an AudioChuck original, produced by Crime House. You can connect with us on Instagram at So Supernatural Pod and visit our website at sosupernaturalpodcast.com. Join Yvette and me next Friday for an all-new episode.

• 41:04Rasha Pecoraro?

  I think Chuck would approve.

• 41:10Speaker 06

  When the nights grow longer, the shadows start to stir, and that can only mean one thing. Full Body Chills is back. This season, Step Inside: Original Tales, where every doorway leads somewhere darker, every stranger carries a secret, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Each story takes you somewhere new, but be careful. You never know what might follow you home. So gather around, listen close, and stream Full Body Chills wherever you get your podcasts.