In short: Answers about The Possession, the sequel to The Haunting: the story and Cathy, difficulty and scares, prices in each city, the 15+ rule, access differences between Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne, and live escape records.
A house you already escaped once. The Possession is Escape This’s 60-minute horror escape room set ten years after The Haunting: you return to Cathy’s home, find it darker than you remember, and have an hour to get out before she adds you to her décor. It runs in Northbridge, Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD for teams of two to eight, all aged 15 or over.
Ideally, yes. The Haunting is chapter one and The Possession is chapter two: the same house, a decade apart. Escape This says you can walk into The Possession cold, but knowing Cathy’s home from the first visit makes the return hit harder. The Haunting only plays at Escape This Northbridge, so Perth teams can take both chapters in order on one night.
The Possession leaves that deliberately open. Escape This’s Perth version asks whether you came back because you doubted your own memory of the first escape, or because you pitied Cathy. Either way, ten years later something has pulled you through her door again, and The Possession starts the moment it closes.
Something much worse than a lonely ghost. In The Possession, Escape This says Cathy has become “something else”: she turns visitors into grotesque playthings and dresses the house with what remains of her “friends”. Your team has to get through her collection without provoking her.
Yes. The Northbridge telling of The Possession names the building as Atkins House and calls it Perth’s most haunted house, the scene of twelve macabre deaths over 125 years. Escape This built the room inside its heritage-listed Lake Street venue, a building it describes as having a dark past of its own.
Only the opening. In Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD, The Possession begins in a decaying building that has stood abandoned behind the city’s glass towers, a place you wrote off as rumour until you were shut inside. The fate to avoid is identical: ending up as one more piece of Cathy’s collection.
Escape This bills The Possession as based on a real haunted house and inspired by its true history, and its old room site pointed to the deaths recorded in the Northbridge building. The game itself is a scripted horror story, so take the ‘true history’ as atmosphere rather than a documentary.
Tough. Escape This rates The Possession 8 out of 10 and calls its puzzles intermediate: layered and complex, yet tuned so a sharp team isn’t left stranded for long. It rewards groups who already have a few escapes behind them; a team of total beginners will find it a steep first night.
That’s how Escape This pitches it. The studio says The Possession “ups the ante on horror” and bills it as the most terrifying escape room experience in Australia, which is its own claim rather than an independent ranking. Expect strong adult themes, jump scares, total darkness, flashing light and some gory touches.
Around 90 minutes from start to finish. The Possession gives you 60 minutes inside; Escape This asks teams to arrive 15 minutes early and suggests leaving another 15 afterwards to get your breath back and debrief.
It’s a big ask. Escape This suggests The Possession for groups where at least some players have done a few escape rooms, because of its 8/10 rating. A brand-new team usually has a better first outing in an easier room, then returns for the sequel once it knows how escape rooms work.
Northbridge: $49 a player Monday to Thursday and $59 Friday to Sunday. Sydney CBD: $55 Monday to Thursday and $65 Friday to Sunday. Melbourne CBD: $55 for off-peak sessions and $65 at peak. The Possession is 15+, so there’s no child rate, and in Perth and Sydney the midweek price doesn’t apply in public or school holidays.
Use the live calendar on this site’s booking page: choose Northbridge, Sydney CBD or Melbourne CBD, pick a time and The Possession is confirmed on the spot. To book by phone, ring Northbridge on (08) 6118 0286, Sydney on (02) 9173 8535 or Melbourne on (03) 7078 8118.
Most of the week. The Possession takes pairs except at peak times: Northbridge and Sydney CBD want four or more on Saturdays, and Melbourne CBD wants four on Fridays from 4pm and Saturdays from midday. In Perth and Sydney a pair can still ring on the Saturday or walk in and grab any spare slot.
Split up. The Possession caps every team at eight and Escape This won’t bend that, so bigger groups book a second room to start at the same time. In Northbridge, The Haunting is an obvious companion; for work groups and larger events, Team Escape organises multi-room bookings.
No. Every booking for The Possession is exclusive to your group, a policy Escape This has held from the start. Nobody you don’t know will be in Cathy’s house with you.
Yes. Escape This gift vouchers cover The Possession in Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne and are sold on escapethis.com.au. Just make sure the lucky recipient is 15 or older, because the age rule still applies on the night.
Escape This has promoted The Possession for exactly those nights, as well as birthdays and date nights. Up to eight horror fans fit in one session, nobody under 15 can join, and anyone who has been drinking will be turned away, so keep the celebratory round for after you get out.
From two to eight. The Possession runs with as few as two at quieter times and never more than eight, with a four-player minimum at each city’s peak times.
Yes. Escape This’s booking system sets The Possession at 15 and over in Northbridge, Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD, staff may ask for ID, and children aren’t allowed in to watch. The old room site once called it adults-only; 15+ is the current rule.
According to Escape This’s booking system, yes: The Possession in Melbourne CBD is set at 15+, like Perth and Sydney. Parts of the Melbourne room page still say 16 and over, though, so ring the Collins Street team on (03) 7078 8118 and have them confirm a 15-year-old will be let in.
No, but most of the team should be comfortable with it. The Possession’s narration and hints are spoken in English and some clues need moderate reading, so a confident reader keeps things moving and a mostly fluent group gets the most from the story.
Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD, one wheelchair per session at each. Some puzzles are harder to reach seated, and in Melbourne one or more chambers may be out of reach depending on the mobility aid. The Possession at Northbridge isn’t wheelchair accessible, and the team there can suggest an accessible room instead.
Only in Melbourne. Escape This says The Possession at Melbourne CBD involves crawling or tight spaces, which may not suit pregnant players, people with limited mobility or severe claustrophobia. The Northbridge and Sydney CBD builds have no crawling and no tight spaces.
Northbridge or Sydney CBD. Escape This lists both versions of The Possession as free of crawling and tight spaces and a good choice during pregnancy or with mobility difficulties. Melbourne’s version includes crawling, so skip that one. Theatrical smoke is used at all three, so raise any breathing concerns when you book.
It might. All three versions of The Possession use theatrical smoke, and Escape This warns it may not suit people with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Call the venue before booking if that applies to anyone in your team.
Pitch black at times. The Possession uses controlled lighting with spells of complete darkness and flashes of light, and the Melbourne page says it isn’t recommended for anyone with light sensitivity or epilepsy. Jump scares come with the territory too.
It depends on the city. Escape This describes the Northbridge and Sydney CBD versions of The Possession as a good choice for claustrophobic players, while warning that confined moments are possible in any room. Melbourne’s version has crawling or tight spaces and isn’t advised for severe claustrophobia.
They hit a panic button. The Possession has them so any player can leave before the hour is up, and gamesmasters watch every session on CCTV, so help arrives fast. The rest of the team can keep going without them.
Yes, with teammates passing on the sound cues. Story narration and the hint system in The Possession are audio, so the group fills in anything missed; Escape This says it shouldn’t spoil the night because the puzzles call on all sorts of abilities.
Fifteen minutes before your booked start. That covers lockers and the gamesmaster’s briefing, so none of your hour inside The Possession gets eaten up.
Yes, and plenty of teams do. For The Possession, think ghost hunters, exorcists or shaken survivors of the first visit, but wear closed shoes and something easy to move in. In Melbourne, choose clothes you don’t mind crawling in.
Phones, smart watches, cameras, video cameras and anything that records sound. The Possession has a strict confidentiality policy, and Escape This provides lockers for your valuables while you play.
If you’re under the influence, yes. Escape This won’t let anyone affected by alcohol or drugs into The Possession, so save the Lake Street, George Street or Collins Street bar crawl for afterwards.
The Possession first opened upstairs at 48 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003, in November 2021. Sydney followed in October 2024 at 630 George Street, and the Melbourne copy opened in August 2026 at 259 Collins Street, where the booking system shortens the name to Possession.
Same story and rating, different builds. Northbridge is the original, with no wheelchair access and no crawling. Sydney CBD takes one wheelchair and has no crawling. Melbourne CBD takes one wheelchair but adds crawling and tight spaces, and prices by peak and off-peak sessions rather than weekdays and weekends. Escape rates differ a lot between them, too.
It’s a naming quirk, not a different game. Escape This’s ER-OS system lists the Melbourne CBD room as Possession, while its Melbourne page and posters call it The Possession and tell Cathy’s story. Book under either name and you get the sequel to The Haunting.
Upstairs, in the part of the venue Escape This calls its Hall of Horrors. The Possession shares the heritage Lake Street building with The Haunting and the rest of the Northbridge horror line-up, so the prequel is only a few doors away.
Yes, by a wide margin. 69% of teams have escaped The Possession at Sydney CBD, against 35% at Northbridge, the original Perth build. Both carry the same 8/10 rating on paper; the game records say the Lake Street house is far less forgiving.
At off-peak times. Melbourne CBD charges $55 a player for off-peak sessions of The Possession and $65 at peak, and the booking calendar shows which is which before you pay.
55% across 5,125 recorded games. Split by venue: Northbridge 35%, Sydney CBD 69%, Melbourne CBD 91%. The Possession’s survival odds swing hugely between cities, so look at the one you’re booking.
Almost. Ranked from lowest escape rate, The Possession sits 2nd of 9 at Escape This Northbridge, 4th of 9 at Escape This Sydney CBD, 2nd of 4 at Escape This Melbourne CBD. At Northbridge only Cannibal (33%) lets fewer teams out. Here “hardest” means the fewest successful escapes.
13:37, set by a team of 4 at Escape This Melbourne CBD with 0 hints. That left 46:23 on the clock, when most teams that escape The Possession need nearly the full hour.
Nearly the whole hour: 54:37 on average, with about 5.4 hints along the way. The Possession seldom lets anyone stroll out early.
A little. 64% of teams have escaped The Possession so far this year, against 55% all-time. This year by venue: Northbridge 49%, Sydney CBD 72%, Melbourne CBD 91%.
They rate The Possession 4.91 out of 5 across Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, with 466 five-star reviews so far. Reviews talk about screaming loud enough to be heard outside, escaping with seconds to spare, puzzles that make you think sideways, and gamesmasters who kept the night on track.
Escape This did, as the follow-up to The Haunting and the first sequel room it ever made, and it runs all three versions. Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, and runs its own escape room design studio and escape room factory in Australia. It was named Escape Room Operator of the Year in 2025 and 2026.
If you skipped it, The Haunting at Northbridge, to see where Cathy’s story began. Beyond that, other Escape This horror rooms share venues with The Possession: Cannibal and Buried Alive in Northbridge and Sydney, or Meat Grinder and Van Helsing in Melbourne. Horrorscape lines them all up by city, age and escape rate.
A comic, invented casebook that Escape This writes in the voice of Desmond Crouch, a self-appointed paranormal investigator who has watched Cathy’s houses from the footpath since 2021 and been wrong about nearly everything. He logs The Possession’s openings in Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne and quizzes teams on their way out. Safe for work, and no puzzle is given away.
No. Desmond, his one-man Northbridge Paranormal Society, his sister Noreen and his beeping meter are all made up for the case files. He is not part of The Possession and won’t be waiting outside your session, though nobody can promise the same about Cathy.
No. Desmond spends the files on the footpath, at the lockers or interviewing teams after the fact, and never records how Cathy’s house works or how anyone got out. Read them before your session or after; The Possession will still surprise you.
Three of them. Escape This’s booking records show The Possession opening at Escape This Northbridge on 26 November 2021, Sydney CBD on 25 October 2024 and Melbourne CBD on 10 August 2026. Desmond’s files for those days carry those dates; the rest are dated for the story.
She does. Cathy writes a diary on the site of The Haunting, the first chapter, and calls Desmond “the Beeping Man”. Many of her pages describe the same nights as his files, seen from the upstairs window instead of the footpath, without repeating a word, and neither one spoils The Possession.
Roughly monthly. Each new file appears on the date at its top, so the case files keep pace with The Possession’s real houses in Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne through 2027.
Book The Possession in Perth, Sydney or Melbourne. Two to eight players, 15 and over, one hour with Cathy.
