# The Haunting

> The Haunting is a 60-minute haunted-house horror escape room at Escape This Northbridge (48 Lake Street, Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia), produced by Escape This. Players are trapped in Atkins House with the ghost of a girl named Cathy and her broken toys, and must escape before she keeps them forever. It is the prequel to The Possession. Strictly 15+, 4–12 players, difficulty 7/10.

Key facts (updated 2026-10-25):
- Difficulty: 7/10. Duration: 60 minutes (allow ~90 minutes for the visit; arrive 15 minutes early).
- Northbridge: Escape This Northbridge, 48 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003. Phone (08) 6118 0286. 4–12 players. Monday – Thursday $49 per player; Friday – Sunday $59 per player (One price per player, whatever their age. Excludes public and school holidays.) Strictly 15+. Wheelchair accessible: no. Escape rate 51%. Rated 4.95/5, with 179 five-star reviews. Book: https://www.thehaunting.com.au/northbridge/
- Totals: 40,665 players, 1,875 games, 51% escape rate, average escape 53:13, record 24:23.
- Rating: 4.95/5, with 179 five-star reviews.
- Producer: Escape This (https://www.escapethis.com.au). Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, and runs its own escape room design studio and escape room factory in Australia. It has venues in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, has hosted more than 500,000 players and has earned 17,969 five-star reviews.
- Escape This awards (company-wide, not room awards): APAC Insider Escape Room Operator of the Year 2026; APAC Insider Best Immersive Experience Provider 2026; APAC Insider Escape Room Operator of the Year 2025; 2026 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards: Finalist, Business Excellence; Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, People’s Choice Founder of the Year (Bernie Janes); Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, Marketing; Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, Resilience.
- Bookings are private. Not wheelchair accessible (two large steps at the venue; crawling and tight spaces in the room). Includes darkness, flashing lights, theatrical smoke, jump scares, confined spaces and a crawl space. Moderate English reading; audio narration and clues. Costumes welcome.

## Pages
- [Home](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/): overview, stats, reviews, trailer
- [The story](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/the-story/): full premise and what to expect
- [Northbridge · Lake Street](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/northbridge/): prices, rules, booking, map
- [Book](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/book/): live availability
- [Leaderboard](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/leaderboard/): fastest escapes and statistics
- [Reviews](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/reviews/): five-star player reviews
- [Plan your visit](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/plan-your-visit/): ages, accessibility, safety, timing
- [FAQ](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/): common questions
- [Cathy’s Diary](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/): an eerie, comic, fictional diary by Cathy, the ghost girl of The Haunting, each entry beside the real room facts
- [Cathy’s Diary: The Door Opened Properly (19 March 2021)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/the-door-opened-properly/): Opening night on Lake Street, 19 March 2021: Cathy meets her first real visitors, who arrive in a huddle of six and leave before she can say goodbye.
- [Cathy’s Diary: Little Glass Eyes in the Corners (11 June 2021)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/little-glass-eyes-in-the-corners/): Cathy discovers the little glass eyes that watch her visitors, and the button that lets a frightened friend leave early. She is not impressed by either.
- [Cathy’s Diary: The Beeping Man (20 August 2021)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/the-beeping-man/): A man with a beeping box keeps watch on Cathy’s window from across Lake Street, then learns his box must wait in a locker. Cathy names him on the spot.
- [Cathy’s Diary: Ten Years Later, Down the Hall (26 November 2021)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/ten-years-later-down-the-hall/): The Possession opens down the hall on 26 November 2021, and Cathy goes to look. It is her house, ten years on, and the girl inside is not as nice as her.
- [Cathy’s Diary: No Children Allowed (Except Me) (14 April 2022)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/no-children-allowed-except-me/): In the school holidays a fourteen-year-old is turned away from Cathy’s door, and she discovers she rather likes being the only child allowed inside.
- [Cathy’s Diary: Everybody Came as Ghosts (31 October 2023)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/everybody-came-as-ghosts/): Halloween at Atkins House: sheet ghosts, veiled mourners and a pretend ghost hunter climb Cathy’s stairs, while the real one beeps outside. Her favourite night.
- [Cathy’s Diary: She Has a House in Sydney Now (25 October 2024)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/she-has-a-house-in-sydney-now/): The Possession reaches George Street, Sydney, on 25 October 2024, and Cathy makes it very clear that her own house is staying right where it is, on Lake Street.
- [Cathy’s Diary: My Mist and My Dark (20 June 2025)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/my-mist-and-my-dark/): Midwinter in Atkins House: Cathy shows off the mist that curls round her dolls’ feet and the dark that comes down all at once. Not everyone is built for it.
- [Cathy’s Diary: Melbourne Is a Long Way to Float (10 August 2026)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/melbourne-is-a-long-way-to-float/): The Possession opens on Collins Street, Melbourne, on 10 August 2026. Cathy counts her older self’s three houses against her own one, and sulks thoroughly.
- [Cathy’s Diary: Somebody Is Reading This (22 October 2026)](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/diary/somebody-is-reading-this/): Cathy finds her diary has been put where anyone can read it, decides she likes being read, and invites you over. What the diary is, and what it never says.
- [Fact sheet](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/facts/): citable facts
- [The Escape This studio & factory](https://www.thedunny.com.au/studio-and-factory/): who designs and builds the rooms (company FAQ lives there)

## Statistics (as of 2026-10-25)
- As of 25 October 2026, The Haunting ranks 8th of 9 rooms at Escape This Northbridge when sorted from lowest escape rate: 51% of 1,875 groups have escaped. The toughest room there, Cannibal, frees 33%.
- So far in 2026, 57% of groups have escaped The Haunting across 718 games.
- Successful groups need 53:13 on average to get out of Atkins House and use about 7 clues.
- 40,665 players have entered The Haunting in recorded games.
- The record escape is 24:23, held by a team of 7.

## Common questions
- [What happens inside The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#what-is-the-haunting): The Haunting is a 60-minute horror escape room at Escape This Northbridge in Perth. Your group is trapped inside Atkins House, a rotting home on Lake Street ruled by the ghost of a girl called Cathy, and has to solve its way out before she keeps you as playmates.
- [Who is Cathy in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#who-is-cathy): Cathy is the child whose laughter fills Atkins House. In The Haunting she has been alone for a long time, surrounded by the dolls and bears she broke, and she wants your group to stay and play with her forever. Anger her and you won’t like the result.
- [What is Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#what-is-atkins-house): Atkins House is the haunted home on Lake Street where The Haunting takes place. In the story, Northbridge locals have whispered about it for years: noises in the night, mist around the basement vents, and visitors who came out with their minds in pieces.
- [Is The Haunting set in a real haunted house?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#is-the-haunting-a-real-haunted-house): Escape This bills The Haunting as set inside a real haunted house and inspired by its true history. The room plays inside a heritage-listed Lake Street building more than a century old, and the story of Atkins House grows out of that setting. Whether anything walks its halls at night is for you to decide.
- [How is The Haunting connected to The Possession?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-and-the-possession): The Haunting is the prequel to The Possession, another horror room at Escape This Northbridge. Play The Haunting first and the story carries on when you step into The Possession.
- [Why are there so many broken toys in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#toys-in-the-haunting): They belong to Cathy. The Haunting’s nursery is crowded with her mangled playthings, from eyeless dolls to a torn teddy and an old rocking horse. Working through her collection without upsetting her is the heart of the game.
- [Can a group of beginners survive The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#how-hard-is-the-haunting): It’s possible, but The Haunting suits groups with some experience. It’s rated 7 out of 10, with intermediate puzzles where the clues are easy to find and hard to crack. Ideally a few players have done escape rooms before; an all-beginner group may prefer Bank Heist or The Wizard’s Chamber at Escape This Perth CBD first.
- [Just how frightening is Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#how-scary-is-the-haunting): Properly scary, in a haunted-house way. The Haunting has jump scares, confined spaces, periods of complete darkness, flashing light, smoke and strong adult themes. It’s tense, sometimes gory, and the strict 15+ limit is there for a reason.
- [Will an actor grab us in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#does-anyone-touch-you-in-the-haunting): Escape This doesn’t list live actors among The Haunting’s effects. What it does warn about is darkness, flashing light, theatrical smoke, confined spaces and jump scares. If any of that worries someone in your group, raise it with the gamesmasters at check-in.
- [How much of our evening does The Haunting need?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#how-long-is-the-haunting): You get one hour inside Atkins House. With 15 minutes beforehand for check-in and the briefing, and around 15 afterwards to recover and debrief, The Haunting takes about 90 minutes all up.
- [Does everyone get something to do in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#the-haunting-teamwork): Yes. The Haunting is built for groups of 4 to 12, and its puzzles are spread through the house, so even a big group finds that everyone ends up searching, reading or solving something in Cathy’s rooms.
- [What does a night in Atkins House cost?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-ticket-price): The Haunting costs $49 per player from Monday to Thursday and $59 per player from Friday to Sunday. Every player pays the same price, and those rates exclude public and school holidays.
- [How do we book a session in Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#book-the-haunting): Online, in a couple of minutes. The live calendar here (or on escapethis.com.au) shows every open session of The Haunting, and your booking locks in the moment you pay. Rather speak to someone? Escape This Northbridge answers on (08) 6118 0286.
- [Should we book The Haunting ahead of time?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#book-the-haunting-early): Yes, where you can. Evenings and weekends get busy at Escape This Northbridge, so booking The Haunting early is the safest bet. Last-minute bookings are fine if the live calendar still shows a free slot.
- [Our group is bigger than twelve. Can we all play The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-more-than-twelve): Not in one session. Twelve is The Haunting’s firm ceiling, so larger groups book a second Northbridge room to start at the same moment and split up. Escape This has a multi-room booker for exactly that.
- [Will we share Atkins House with people we don’t know?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-private-sessions): No. Every session of The Haunting is booked for one group only, so the only screams you hear in Cathy’s house belong to your own friends.
- [Is there a gift voucher for The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-gift-voucher): Yes. Escape This gift vouchers can be spent on The Haunting at Northbridge and are bought on escapethis.com.au. Just check the person you’re treating is 15 or older.
- [Does The Haunting work for a birthday or a staff night out?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-birthdays-work-crews): Very well. The Haunting takes up to twelve, sessions are private, and the shared fright brings a group together fast. Northbridge’s bars and restaurants are on the doorstep for afterwards.
- [How big a group can enter Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-group-size): Between 4 and 12. The Haunting needs at least four players because of how some puzzles work, and it never takes more than twelve. Those limits aren’t flexible.
- [Can a 14-year-old come into Atkins House with their parents?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-minimum-age): No. Fifteen is the floor: The Haunting is strictly 15+, with no exceptions for younger players even if a parent is playing, and staff may check ID. Children can’t come in as spectators either.
- [Is a party of three too small for Cathy’s house?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-three-players): Yes, sadly. The Haunting has a hard minimum of four players. A pair or trio could look at a smaller-group room instead; the Escape This team can suggest one on (08) 6118 0286.
- [Our group speaks limited English. Will Cathy’s clues make sense to us?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-english): Mostly, if one of you reads English well. The Haunting’s narration and clues are spoken in English, and there’s some reading. Since it’s a team game, one strong English reader in the group is enough to take part, though fluency across most of the group makes it smoother.
- [Can a wheelchair user join us in Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-wheelchair): No. The Haunting isn’t suitable for wheelchairs: the Northbridge rooms are up two large steps and the game involves crawling through tight spaces. The team can help you find an accessible Escape This room instead.
- [Will we have to crawl through Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-crawl-space): Yes. The Haunting has a crawl space and other tight spots, so it may not suit anyone who is pregnant or has mobility difficulties. Have a word with the team before you book if that applies to someone in your group.
- [I’m claustrophobic. Should I avoid The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-claustrophobia): If it’s severe, probably. The Haunting includes a crawl space and confined corners in the dark. Milder nerves are often fine with friends around, and the panic button is always there. Ask the team if you’re unsure.
- [Does The Haunting use smoke?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-smoke-asthma): Yes. Theatrical smoke drifts through The Haunting, so it may not suit players with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Mention it to the team before you book.
- [Do the candles in Cathy’s house ever go out completely?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-darkness-flashing): Yes, at times. The Haunting uses controlled lighting with periods of complete darkness and flashes of light. If anyone is sensitive to flashing light, Escape This suggests choosing another of its rooms.
- [Will something make us leap out of our skin in Atkins House?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-jump-scares): Yes. The Haunting can include jump scares and confined spaces. If anyone has a heart condition, anxiety or simply hates being startled, talk to the gamesmasters at check-in.
- [What if someone panics in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-panic-button): They press a panic button and leave. A gamesmaster watches The Haunting on CCTV throughout and will let them out at once, while the rest of the group can carry on.
- [Will hearing loss spoil Cathy’s nursery rhymes and clues?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-hearing): Not if the group helps. The Haunting’s story and clues are delivered as audio, so teammates can pass on what’s said. The puzzles themselves draw on plenty of other skills.
- [When should we get to The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-arrival): Fifteen minutes before your start time. That leaves room for lockers, safety notes and the briefing at Escape This Northbridge, so none of your hour in The Haunting is lost.
- [Can we dress up for The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-costumes): Go for it. Ghost hunters, Victorian mourners and horror-film characters all look the part in The Haunting. Wear closed shoes and something comfortable, because there’s crawling to do.
- [Could we film Cathy on our phones?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-phones-lockers): No. Mobile phones, smart watches, cameras and recording devices of any kind are banned in The Haunting. Lockers are provided for them and any valuables.
- [Can we have a few drinks in Northbridge before The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-drinks-first): Save the bar for afterwards. Anyone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs won’t be allowed to play The Haunting, and the team does turn people away.
- [Which building on Lake Street hides The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#where-is-the-haunting): The Haunting is at Escape This Northbridge, 48 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003, in Perth’s entertainment precinct. Head upstairs to the Hall of Horrors, the part of the venue where the horror rooms live.
- [Where do we park for The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-parking): There’s street parking around Lake Street, and the City of Perth Aberdeen Street car park (121 Aberdeen Street and 104 Francis Street) is less than 100 metres from The Haunting’s front door.
- [What else plays under the same roof as The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#other-rooms-near-the-haunting): Eight more rooms. Escape This Northbridge pairs The Haunting with horror rooms including The Possession, Dracula, Cannibal and Buried Alive, plus Pirate Island for a lighter adventure. Book two back to back for a long night in.
- [How many groups make it out of The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#how-many-escape-the-haunting): About half. 51% of the 1,875 recorded groups have escaped Atkins House. The rest ran out of time while Cathy was still playing.
- [Do fewer groups survive The Haunting than any other Lake Street room?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#is-the-haunting-the-hardest-at-northbridge): No. Ranked by lowest escape rate, The Haunting is 8th of the 9 rooms at Escape This Northbridge, with 51% of 1,875 groups escaping. The toughest there is Cannibal, where only 33% get out.
- [Are groups escaping The Haunting more often this year?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-this-year): 57% of the 718 groups who entered The Haunting this year escaped, compared with 51% across all 1,875 recorded games.
- [What is the record escape time for The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-record): The fastest escape from The Haunting took 24:23, set by a team of 7 using 0 clues, with 35:37 still left on the clock.
- [How long do successful groups spend in The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-average-escape): Most of the hour. Groups that escape The Haunting take 53:13 on average and ask Cathy’s house for about 7 clues along the way.
- [How many visitors has Cathy had so far?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-players-so-far): 40,665 players have stepped into The Haunting across 1,875 recorded games at Escape This Northbridge.
- [How do we get onto The Haunting leaderboard?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-leaderboard-entry): Escape, and do it quickly. The Haunting leaderboard ranks groups by escape time, with fewer clues breaking ties. Your group photo is only shown online if you agreed to it at the venue.
- [Is The Haunting worth playing?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#haunting-reviews): Players think so. The Haunting averages 4.95 out of 5, and 179 survivors gave it five stars. Reviewers keep coming back to the creepy atmosphere, the detail in the set and props, and gamesmasters who make the night.
- [Who made The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#who-built-the-haunting): Escape This wrote, designed and built The Haunting itself, from Cathy’s nursery to the effects that bring Atkins House to life, and runs it at Northbridge. Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, with its own escape room design studio and escape room factory.
- [What is Cathy’s Diary?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#what-is-cathys-diary): An invented diary that Escape This writes in the voice of Cathy, the ghost girl of The Haunting. She records the visitors who climb the stairs to Atkins House, the ones who leave before her clock runs out and the man with the beeping box across Lake Street. It is eerie and darkly funny, fine to read at work, and says nothing about how the puzzles work.
- [Could reading Cathy’s Diary spoil The Haunting?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#cathys-diary-spoilers): No. Cathy never writes down where her things are kept, how her games are played or which way leads out of her house, so the diary hands a group nothing. Read it before you visit to meet her, or afterwards to see the night from her side.
- [Which nights in Cathy’s Diary really happened?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#cathys-diary-real-dates): The openings. Escape This’s booking records show The Haunting starting at Escape This Northbridge on 19 March 2021, and its sequel The Possession opening at Northbridge on 26 November 2021, at Sydney CBD on 25 October 2024 and at Melbourne CBD on 10 August 2026. Cathy’s pages for those days carry those dates; the others are dated for the story.
- [Who is the Beeping Man in Cathy’s Diary?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#cathys-diary-other-side): Desmond Crouch, an invented paranormal investigator who watches the window of The Haunting from across Lake Street with a meter that beeps at everything. He keeps case files of his own on the site of The Possession, the sequel set ten years later, covering many of the same nights from the footpath. The two never share a sentence, and neither gives away a puzzle.
- [The Haunting is 15+. Is Cathy’s Diary too frightening for younger readers?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#cathys-diary-younger-readers): The diary is spooky rather than grim: no gore, nothing unsafe for work, and no account of what happened to Cathy. The room is another matter. The Haunting itself is strictly 15+, staff may check ID, and nobody younger can play or come in to watch.
- [Does Cathy still add pages to her diary?](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/faq/#cathys-diary-new-pages): About once a month. Each new page appears on the date written at its top, so the diary keeps step with The Haunting, the real room on Lake Street, through 2027.

## Optional
- [Full text](https://www.thehaunting.com.au/llms-full.txt): story, FAQ and per-venue rules in plain text