Our Halloween ventures led us to one of the scariest places any native Chicagoan could visit… the north side during rush hour. The Portage Park neighborhood is home to the city’s longest-running non-profit haunted house. Inside the basement of St. Pascal’s church lies the Catacombs haunted house. Celebrating their 46th season, we were invited to visit a fun attraction that benefits the community by placing all money raised into the church/school. The Catacombs is a great example of classic Halloween, bringing a local community together.
As we mentioned, this is a non-profit haunt. The team behind the attraction is completely volunteer-based and has remained loyal to its cause for many years.
The queue line and the inside of the attraction were stocked with actors. At every twist and turn within the catacombs, there was something for everyone and scares around literally every corner. The actors are all volunteers and truly put their heart into their performances. A lot of the scares were predictable but still fun. They relied heavily on startle scares, growls, and screams. The actors were very interested in getting in your face and really making you feel trapped. They made the most out of being in such a confined space. Their utilization of body movement and use of the hallways. Some of the actors would follow through scenes, which again made you feel trapped and possibly stuck in the catacombs forever.
The actress in the rules room was very interactive and entertaining. She called herself Lady Josephie and sat on a throne and explained the rules and even told jokes. This was a great segway into meeting the guardian of the entrance to the catacombs; he was very friendly and, in a ghoulish way, set us off on our journey. The clowns in the queue line were great at miming and entertaining guests with typical clown-like behavior and playing off each other. Throughout the house, a lot of the actors made growls and relied heavily on screams. The rules room has the best dialogue and lore to talk about the haunt, and as mentioned above, it had a lot of jokes and interacted well with the crowd. The house had a little bit of everything, from clowns to catacomb dwellers, ghouls, possessed citizens, ghouls, and a whole host of monsters.
It’s always great to attend a non-profit haunted house that uses its given resources and creates a haunting environment. After all, anything can happen in the basement of a church.
Some actors wore costumes that matched the themes of the rooms they were in, depending on the scene. The costumes consisted of butchers, lab techs, and dolls. While others wore all black to blend in the dark rooms efficiently, a few more wore street clothes and posed as either victims or wore masks and lurked around.
The makeup used is a mixture of both cream-based and airbrush, which brings a feeling of nostalgia to what childhood Halloween was like. With the warm weather still lingering, the actors were sweating and the makeup streaked, which gave them a sinister and rundown look. The queue line actors created a fun experience, wearing clown costumes with matching colorful makeup, still managing to scare the teens waiting in line.
The Catacombs is located on Irving Park Road and are very easy to spot; the location is inside the beautiful historic Saint Pascals church. On the fencing, they have large vinyl banners in creepy letters saying The Catacombs. Parking may be a little difficult, especially on busy evenings. In front of the church, there are tombstones with Sponsor names, a huge skeleton and pumpkin monster, along with ghost inflatables moving along to very loud and inviting Halloween music and familiar horror movie soundtracks. All these features guide you to the entrance of the school, where there are staff members to assist.
Going into the house, another actor gives you the house rules. As you make your way through the attraction, be advised that the spaces are tight and could be claustrophobic to some. There are no clear or visible emergency exits. The website does say that in case of an emergency that a staff member will get you safely out of the haunt. The website also has information about wheelchair accessibility.
On the website, you can also find information about their bag policy, which informs guests that it has video recording for security purposes. The staff is extremely helpful and professional. The ticket counter and concession stand had plenty of attendants. There are also staff members to guide you through the queue and assist you until you make it into the rules room. Aside from the actress in the rules room, there is also a staff member to help control the flow. Before you enter the rules room, there’s also a photographer for a photo op. Upon leaving the house, there is plenty of staff to guide you towards the exit.
Catacombs have been around for 46 years and have generated a lot of popularity. The attraction has an internet presence as well as word of mouth due to the length of time it’s been open and the large fan base it has amassed. Catacombs have various sponsors and run as a volunteer charity haunted attraction. It is a well-known and popular attraction, so information is easy to find.
After finding parking, we walked up to two oversized Skellies welcoming us at the door. Music played on a speaker as we took pictures with a few queue line actors, giving us a taste of what we were about to experience. We did not have to wait long in the queue and were led past the breathtaking façade and straight downstairs to the church’s basement.
The overall feeling while walking through is one of pure claustrophobia due to the narrow halls and low ceilings. The sounds, music, and actors’ screams were amplified, which made it quite horrifying.
We did manage to bump into a group in the beginning, but there were no issues after the first room. Our group flowed smoothly through all the rooms and did not notice when we circled back to the first room to exit. Once outside, we were given the pleasure of having another peek at the façade of the church. This old building helped with the ambiance despite it being a few years short of being a century old!
The Catacombs is a great entry-level attraction for a younger demographic and provides a more family-oriented experience. With a more “old school” approach, special effects are limited, and scares are more actor-focused.
The special effects at Catacombs are presented in a fun and creative way alongside plenty of in-house built scenes. As we stated, this is a non-profit attraction that donates its time and revenue back into the school. Some of the effects include strobe lights, black light with neon paint on scenes as well as actors, and good usage of fog. You can tell they put a lot of love into this attraction and made it work within the parameters of the church basement.
The opening (rules room) scene is entertaining. Guests are seated and facing a throne laced in candles and skulls. The whole room is lit in blacklight, so everybody is glowing. Other guests in the room (particularly the younger ones) found this effect delightful. Some great scenes are worth highlighting, including the decompression chamber. Professor Putrid had what looked like failed experiments, slats filled with toxic-looking drums, with only skeletal remains left. The scene was fun, with two actors banging on the doors and one actor inside yelling. Another memorable scene is the pitch-black fenced room. As a group, we were led into a portion of the haunt where we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. Eventually, we would hit a gate, and Bodies by Drowning Pool starts. During the drop of the song, all heck breaks loose (we are in a church, so no swearing), and we find we were not alone in this room!
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 7.25
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.1
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.5
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 7.2
Do we find the haunt to be scary? The catacombs, being very tight and underground, do help create a feeling of unease and claustrophobia. Since you are in the basement of a church that’s over one hundred years old, you do get an odd, spooky feeling amongst all the scenes and actors jumping out at you. Since there were so many actors, there were tons of scares. Everyone in a group can be hit by the actors because of how narrow the corridors are.
The utilization of the hallways and tight spaces made it optimal for startle scares, drop boxes, and distraction scares. The actors used menacing body movement and low growls and snarls, along with shrieking and jumping out. The scares were very predictable but still effective. It’s a lot more family-friendly, so the scares aren’t intense, but are a lot of fun, and when the jump scares occur, you will have a laugh.
The finale of the house is very fun because you go from being in such a tight space in the darkness that, up to exiting, it is as though you are truly exiting the catacombs. On the way out, though, we were brought back into the light only to be reunited with our clown friends from earlier. The suspension of make-believe and reality is a sharp contrast and very fun.
Our walkthrough time for The Catacombs was 13 minutes. With general tickets priced at $15, our Minute Per Dollar Value was at 0.87. This is a good price point, as this attraction serves as a scary introduction haunted house for younger guests. This price point won’t break the bank for a family of four to attend and enjoy a night out. The Catacombs also host events, and this year they will be hosting an Ozzy Tribute night! No bats allowed.
The Catacombs not only delivers a solid neighborhood show, but they do so for a great cause as well. It is exciting to think about this 46-year-old tradition. I imagine there were some youngsters in the 80s heading to this haunt, and they are now taking their little ones here, or possibly even grandchildren!
6143 West Irving Park Road, Chicago, Illinois 60634