Sixty feet below the vibrant streets of downtown Paris, a perilous, illegal underworld stretches for 200 miles, filled with the scattered remains of over six million human beings, a stark population of the dead exceeding the living above. This hidden realm, where entry is punishable by jail time, offers no GPS service and no means of communication if disaster strikes, posing immense risks of getting lost, hurt, or mugged by gang activity. Despite the danger, an expedition involving host Drew Binsky and paranormal experts Sam and Colby documented a grueling, nearly ten-hour journey through the illegal catacombs, confronting history, physical obstacles, and powerful spiritual contact.
The network of tunnels originated in the late 1700s when Paris faced a severe crisis of overflowing cemeteries and rampant diseases. To solve the problem, millions of bodies were dumped down chutes into a vast system of abandoned limestone mines, the same source used for building Parisian landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral. Today, the resulting catacombs are a sobering sight, featuring entire corridors piled high with thousands of skulls and bones, a visceral reminder that "this will be us in 80 years from now". The physical demands of the illegal entry began immediately through a cramped opening described as only "a foot tall". Throughout the tunnels, which are barely wide enough for a person to walk, the team contended with slushing water, the vile odor of a passing sewer—dubbed the "poop tunnel"—and the constant threat of claustrophobia, a major fear for one of the explorers. The journey required enduring an intense 40 to 50 meters of army crawling through extremely tight, handmade passages. Adding to the high physical risk, the crew was haunted by the fact that hundreds of people have died after getting lost down here.
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I Illegally Explored The Paris Catacombs (Terrifying)
Guided by a “cataphile,” one of the underground explorers who spends years mapping and digging new routes by hand, the expedition navigated several key subterranean landmarks. They passed through the Z room, notorious as the biggest chamber in the catacombs and a location famous for hosting massive raves. They also encountered the Baptism Chamber, which serves as a true "rite of passage in the underworld". After being controversially baptized in what was referred to as "cursed water," the team’s focus shifted to paranormal investigation. While Binsky started the trip a skeptic, ranking his belief in ghosts at a "two out of ten," the paranormal experts, Sam and Colby, were convinced believers after ten years of experiences, including hearing voices, being touched, and being scratched.
The first investigation was conducted at the tomb of Philbert Asper, a hospital doorman who tragically perished in 1793 when his single candle burned out, leaving him trapped in "total darkness" until his body was found 11 years later. Using simple twist-on/twist-off flashlights—which spirits are believed to manipulate—the lights quickly activated when Philbert's story was first mentioned, and again when questions were directed toward other entities, including a soldier and Eugenie, a woman murdered along with her daughter by a torchbearer.
Later, while sitting on the infamous Bone Throne, a chair constructed entirely of human skulls and bones, the team utilized the Estes method, an experiment where a blindfolded investigator listens to radio white noise for words manipulated by spirits. During this session, the entity communicated unsettling messages, hearing the word "Trap" and expressing a desire to get to the "sky". The spirit also showed a trickster nature, saying "Prank" and "Joker," while admitting to being bored.
When asked to identify itself, the voice responded, "All 6 million". The most terrifying investigation took place in a room lined with mirrors—believed to be portals—using a recalled 1970s DR60 voice recorder, which was designed to isolate voices from white noise. The playback was chillingly clear: when asked if the entity following them was evil, a voice stated, "I am evil" and claimed, "I’m alive". When asked if it was attached to someone in the group, the device released a human voice "scream" that was four times louder than the question. By the end of the long ordeal, Binsky's belief in the paranormal had surged from a two to an "eight out of ten". The team eventually emerged into the daylight, soaked from sludging through knee-high, freezing cold water and shaken by the realization that their powerful, potentially malevolent contact intended to "follow" them out.
