Catacombs: Black Death Rising

[Stephanie]

So, uhh, about this house and my final thoughts. I don't think anything will ever top my experience in here. You know someone loves a house when they start humming the facade music. People would randomly ask me "so I take you've been here before?" Ha! They have no idea. I lost count on how many times I've gone through this house but it's definitely past the 40's. I love absolutely everything about it. The sets, lighting, soundtrack, smell, and the scareactors of course. I was one of the first few people that entered this house on EP night. I came out of that house in tears because it was freaking terrifying. My last run through this house I was in tears as well, but for a completely different reason. To all of the actors in this house..thank you. Thank you times a billion. I'm tearing up while typing this. You have no idea how much you guys have helped me out this past month. I love the victims, the corpses, and last but not least...the peckers. I really do love you guys! Thanks again for everything.

P.S. Thank you for the present

[Dr. Jimmy]

Care to share? I find it incredibly intriguing that A&D would hide a clue for next year in a house... allegedly in Latin, no less...

Damn, I didn't bother with any Latin inscriptions, as I took Patrick quite literally and was looking for a person. Could some nice Pecker please PM me with the clue? After all I let you keep my cat last night.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Dr. Jimmy

[Legacy]

The Latin, I don't think, is the clue. What I was able to get from it translated (roughly) into:

"Violent Death" (Latin word I couldn't translate) "Sleep"

"To Hear" (Latin) (Latin) (Latin)

It's a fairly long phrase, and I'm still playing with it some, but considering guests would never be able to see it (there was no show light on it, it can only be seen during a lights on tour), I'm starting to lean more towards another clue.

The final paragraph in the museum portion of the house began with the phrase; "Mankind has always been intrigued by Death." Grammatically, the word "death" should NOT be capitalized there. It's obviously intentional, and capitalizing it personifies death (much the same way Fear is the personification of fear). When you throw in the fact that the rest of the paragraph talks, rather bluntly, about how everything must end and you must fill that time with something suitable while anticipating a new beginning, it begins to eerily correlate with the events of HHN.

The supposed connection with Orfanage, similarly, fits as well. Follow this, it's a bit of a stretch.

Hades deals with monsters in the underworld.

LT deals with ghost who are already dead.

Psychoscarepy deals with either ghost who are already dead or forgotten inmates who are not dead.

Zombiegeddon deals with the undead.

Hallow'd Past deals with the past.

Havoc deals with psychotic super-soldiers.

Catacombs deals with the people dying from the Black Death and the people attempting to prevent it.

Orfanage deals with children dying and the person who caused it.

Catacombs and Orfanage are the only two houses this year that specifically deal with death... or better yet... Death.

We have seen the personification of Fear. We have seen that Universal has toyed with the idea of personifying Fate. Death, suddenly, doesn't seem so far outside the realm of possibility.

[atigeg]

So sad that I won't be able to comb my cat in the Catacombs anymore, but it was a great run. I even made my husband participate in the cat combing yesterday, and we made sure to be the last people on the last run-through last night so we could express our appreciation. This house is in my top five of all time. Such a simple concept pulled off so brilliantly. Proves you don't need a huge space and fancy special effects to pull off a brilliant haunt. Both teams were consistently excellent. I'd love it if those clues were true and especially if a new incarnation of Catacombs showed up in 2011.

[Legacy]

I will really miss this house. I made sure to hit it a few times last night on the last set of both casts, and also made sure to tell them how much I appreciated their hard work. In case I missed you last night, or you didn't hear me. Thank you guys/gals for all your hard work to make this house absolutely amazing. You guys/gals will be missed. ::hand hearts::

I just remembered this, but I'm really glad I got one last startle out of you. You were giving on of the other peckers in my room hand hearts and then when you turned around I was right in your face. The look on your face was classic; like you didn't know what to do.

[Cramer]

The cloaked ops in the house on closing night were fantastic. They need to do that with more houses. Usually seeing ops makes the house seem a lot less scary to me, but seeing these cloaked ops just really kept me grinning. I hope that they got a lot of good comments about it on the surveys (Oops, forgot to fill mine out on the way out) because I'd LOVE to see that happen in later nights.

[Troiandan]

Major props to all in this house, you all are awesome!! On my final run through the house, one of the peckers in the next to last room enshrouded me in the burlap covering the boohole. I've gone through so many times, I seldom get disoriented anymore, but this did the trick - this was a perfect way to rekindle the fear that is Cats N Combs!!

Thanks for a truly great year, I heart you all and hope you make a return to HHN!

[Dr. Jimmy]

BOB says that when A&D finally wise up and make her the new Icon CATS N COMBS II: Now With Actual Cats will be the Icon House.

Yes it's never too early to start speculating on HHN XXI!!!

[Cinderelly115]

I just remembered this, but I'm really glad I got one last startle out of you. You were giving on of the other peckers in my room hand hearts and then when you turned around I was right in your face. The look on your face was classic; like you didn't know what to do.

Yeah.... you got me good.... I really didn't expect someone to be there. I probably should have paid attention more in the house.. I was also trying to take everything in one last time too..heh..

[Black Void]

I just remembered this, but I'm really glad I got one last startle out of you. You were giving on of the other peckers in my room hand hearts and then when you turned around I was right in your face. The look on your face was classic; like you didn't know what to do.

Hell, you even got me (granted, I was singing along with a certain Irish doctor)!

The final paragraph in the museum portion of the house began with the phrase; "Mankind has always been intrigued by Death." Grammatically, the word "death" should NOT be capitalized there. It's obviously intentional, and capitalizing it personifies death (much the same way Fear is the personification of fear). When you throw in the fact that the rest of the paragraph talks, rather bluntly, about how everything must end and you must fill that time with something suitable while anticipating a new beginning, it begins to eerily correlate with the events of HHN.

While I now think this is the main clue (since only us Doctors could really see the Latin phrase), it still can fit back with Latin phrase (violent death, sleep...) If you want to email me the phrase, I've got a friend who knows Latin. He should be able to figure out the other words.

[Cinderelly115]

Soo I am starting to really miss the amazingness of this house.... mmmm withdrawl......

[Creeper06]

So I know that this house got a lot of fans this year so I thoguht I would share... have you seen the trailer for the new Nic Cage movie Season of the Witch? There are plague doctors in it!!!

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLoKm_vUsFY

The doctors show up at 1:04. Just thought you all might enjoy

[orlandinorules56]

i would go see that movie just for the C:BDR reference!

[Legacy]

They're all white spies!!!

[Maximum Madness]

This house really got me! It was done perfectly well, and scares were plentiful! At one point there were three plague doctors surrounding me and I had to force myself to run through. Good job to all the scareactors who did fantstic in this house!

[The Director of Horror]

.

Edited June 18, 2012 by The Director of Horror

[beastboy13]

did anyone get in trouble for "accidentally" hitting the Bird people? my friend's dad did, and also my sister's friend. nothing serious they just got a warning, but those were pretty big beaks on the masks.

by the way, LOVED THE HOUSE!!!

[LV-426]

did anyone get in trouble for "accidentally" hitting the Bird people? my friend's dad did, and also my sister's friend. nothing serious they just got a warning, but those were pretty big beaks on the masks.

by the way, LOVED THE HOUSE!!!

I was always afraid they were going to hit me, there were a few times that the actors came a few inches from my face, I was like OMG! scared both because of the actors, and because I had a huge beak in my face

totally love this house so much, best house of 2010

[Legacy]

did anyone get in trouble for "accidentally" hitting the Bird people? my friend's dad did, and also my sister's friend. nothing serious they just got a warning, but those were pretty big beaks on the masks.

by the way, LOVED THE HOUSE!!!

No one here got in trouble. We were pretty aware of who the Nightmares were, and they all behaved pretty well. But yes, throughout the run several people got in trouble and trespassed from the park for hitting the birds and bodies.

[coleman2122]

Can someone post what a full experience of this house would have been? I am interested.

[hhnfreak33]

whoever was the female skeleton who would reach out and scream made my heart skip a beat hahaha

[Legacy]

Catacombs Shirt FINALLY available for sale...

http://www.zazzle.com/catacombs-235882549612201704

EDIT -

As is the Cats and Combs shirt!

http://www.zazzle.com/cats_combs-235997561564890858

Edited February 19, 2013 by Legacy

[OrangeRyan]

Hello! I know this was like almost 6 years ago, But I am so so curious as to what this how actually was. I didn't come to the event until 2013, but I am a Horror Nights History Fanatic and I am so curious as to what was the experience like? Like what were the specific rooms and stuff in order of the house? 

 

Thank you guys! This maze sounds amazing! 

[Legacy]

Oh geesh, let me try to remember. The entire thing was the French Catacombs (until the end), so it was all rock work, bones, and vines. It was also elevated immensely by they intensity of the cast. It was almost all vets who brought it every night.

 

Room one - A hall of standing bodies standing upright in arches with two scareactor corpses.

 

Room 2 - Baby Crypt with baby skeletons lining the walls. When the effect worked, the heads would move up and down.

 

Room 3 - An infected archeologist and a skeleton are hidden behind some scaffolding.

 

Room 4 (Narrow Spaces) - A narrow, rocky corridor with a tied up archeologist hanging above and Plague Doctors appearing the sides. A corpse reaching down at you from above transitioned into 

 

Room 5 (Room of Roots) - A massive tangle roots had grown into the catacombs, creating a puller like cage with a doctor inside.

 

Room 6 - A plague doctor kneels at an altar before lunging at you, while a corpse creeps around the other side of the room.

 

Room 7 (The Coughin Room) - An s-turn shaped room with three doctors, each with two boo-holes. (This was my room)

 

Room 8 - A doctor works over a corpse on a table, drawing your attention, while two doctors attack you from the ropes and cloth lining the scaffolding behind you.

 

Room 9 - A transition room into the museum. No scareactors.

 

Room 10 - Museum finale. Protective plastic hangs on both sides of the hall, meant to protect the bodies on display. The plastic is thrown into your face while corpses on either side attack. With strobe and everything, it was the best finale that year.

 

 

[OrangeRyan]

3 hours ago, Legacy said:

Oh geesh, let me try to remember. The entire thing was the French Catacombs (until the end), so it was all rock work, bones, and vines. It was also elevated immensely by they intensity of the cast. It was almost all vets who brought it every night.

 

Room one - A hall of standing bodies standing upright in arches with two scareactor corpses.

 

Room 2 - Baby Crypt with baby skeletons lining the walls. When the effect worked, the heads would move up and down.

 

Room 3 - An infected archeologist and a skeleton are hidden behind some scaffolding.

 

Room 4 (Narrow Spaces) - A narrow, rocky corridor with a tied up archeologist hanging above and Plague Doctors appearing the sides. A corpse reaching down at you from above transitioned into 

 

Room 5 (Room of Roots) - A massive tangle roots had grown into the catacombs, creating a puller like cage with a doctor inside.

 

Room 6 - A plague doctor kneels at an altar before lunging at you, while a corpse creeps around the other side of the room.

 

Room 7 (The Coughin Room) - An s-turn shaped room with three doctors, each with two boo-holes. (This was my room)

 

Room 8 - A doctor works over a corpse on a table, drawing your attention, while two doctors attack you from the ropes and cloth lining the scaffolding behind you.

 

Room 9 - A transition room into the museum. No scareactors.

 

Room 10 - Museum finale. Protective plastic hangs on both sides of the hall, meant to protect the bodies on display. The plastic is thrown into your face while corpses on either side attack. With strobe and everything, it was the best finale that year.

 

 

OH MY GOD YOU ARE A SAVIOR! You are incredible! Thank you so so much for letting me experience it through this. It sounds absolutely terrifying! I might post to other threads where houses were and ask what rooms were in those. Just a fair warning. I love HHN so much but I just really want to experience these past mazes in some way.