One villain, several hats

The alter egos

One villain, four open rooms, a wardrobe of hats, and two more projects on the drawing board: a van and a prison wing.

In short: In this diary the Undertaker of Buried Alive is also the intercom voice of Asylum, the Northbridge Butcher of Cannibal and the waiter of Meat Grinder. In development he is the Night Locksmith of Murder Van and the Keeper of Death Row.

Buried Alive

The Undertaker

“Two to a game, one to a box.”

Room: Buried Alive
Wears: Top hat with a mulberry band, black frock coat, a shovel he polishes more than he uses
Plays at: Escape This Northbridge and Escape This Sydney CBD
Official site: buriedalive.com.au

In character

The original, he insists, and the only one of us with a sense of occasion. I bury pairs in my two coffins and wire the boxes together with a game neither half can finish alone. I am never in the room. I find it builds suspense.

Out of character

The Undertaker is the unseen villain of Buried Alive, the two-player coffin room. Players hear his laugh and the thud of soil; they never have to face him, only beat his puzzles.

Cameo silhouette of a cheerful doctor with a head mirror, a clipboard and an intercom grille

Asylum

The voice on the intercom

“Therapy is FUN.”

Room: Asylum
Wears: A head mirror, a lilac bow tie, a clipboard of patient notes and a microphone he never puts down
Plays at: Escape This Northbridge, Escape This Sydney CBD and Escape This Melbourne CBD
Official site: asylumescape.com.au

In character

My bedside manner, which I keep in a drawer for special patients. He is sunny, warm and has never once let anybody leave early on purpose. Nobody learns his name because I have not decided on one I like.

Out of character

Asylum’s villain is a voice on a crackling speaker who calls players his favourite patients. The room never names him; this diary suggests he is the Undertaker in a white coat.

Cameo silhouette of a chef in a tall white toque and apron beside a silver dinner cloche

Cannibal

The Northbridge Butcher

“Dinner is at eight. You are the reason.”

Room: Cannibal
Wears: A spotless apron, a tall toque and a seating plan written in his best copperplate
Plays at: Escape This Northbridge and Escape This Sydney CBD
Official site: cannibalescape.com.au

In character

My host persona. He throws dinner parties, keeps a diary of his own (amateur work, frankly) and is always out at the shops when the guests wake up. The newspapers called him a copycat. I have opinions about that.

Out of character

Cannibal’s villain is the Northbridge Butcher, a copycat killer whose meat locker players wake in on the night of his dinner party. Reading his diary is part of escaping.

Cameo silhouette of a waiter with slick hair, a bow tie, a napkin over one arm and an order pad

Meat Grinder

The Waiter

“May I recommend tomorrow’s special?”

Room: Meat Grinder
Wears: Slicked hair, a white napkin folded over one arm and an order pad with very particular handwriting
Plays at: Escape This Melbourne CBD
Official site: horrorscape.com.au

In character

My Melbourne disguise. He serves dinner, smiles at the right moments and takes a great many notes. Diners only realise afterwards that he was not taking their order so much as taking an interest.

Out of character

Meat Grinder’s villain is the waiter from the night before, who turns out to have been choosing his next guests. The room plays only at Escape This Melbourne CBD.

Murder Van · in development

The Night Locksmith, in development

“I never lock anybody in. I simply keep the handles.”

In character

My newest overalls. He picks up the telephone at two in the morning, arrives far sooner than anyone has a right to expect and offers a warm seat in the back to whoever is stranded on the doorstep. The newspapers chose his name. I would have gone for something with more syllables.

Out of character

The villain of Murder Van is the Night Locksmith, a friendly-seeming tradesman whose white van collects people stuck outside their own front doors after dark. Murder Van’s own story reveals him as the Undertaker in a new disguise; the room is a concept heading for Northbridge in late 2027.

Murder Van In development

Villain: The Night Locksmith, a too-helpful tradesman with a white panel van: the Undertaker in disguise
Premise: Players are trapped in a serial killer’s van with 60 minutes to escape. Claustrophobic, intense, extreme horror.
Destined for: Escape This Northbridge, 48 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003, late 2027
Not yet announced: Opening date, price, team size and minimum age are not announced yet.
Official site: murdervan.com.au

Death Row · in development

The Keeper, in development

“Every date is kept. I keep them personally.”

In character

My most punctual self. He writes in a ledger in flawless copperplate, carries a ring of keys he will not lend to anyone and keeps a timetable he refuses to revise. He calls his chair Mercy. I find that a little much, but he will not be told.

Out of character

The villain of Death Row is the Keeper, who stayed on at the fictional Ironwood Penitentiary after it was ordered shut and still keeps its old timetable. Death Row’s own story reveals him as the Undertaker under a warden’s cap, fitting for a room billed as picking up where Buried Alive left off.

Death Row In development

Villain: The Keeper of Ironwood Penitentiary, a fictional prison: the Undertaker in disguise
Premise: A team of condemned prisoners comes to on the abandoned condemned wing of a prison that was meant to close, and must get off the Row before the Keeper switches on his chair at midnight. Billed as picking up where Buried Alive left off.
Venue and date: No venue or opening date announced
Not yet announced: Venue, opening date, prices, team size, age rule, difficulty and running time are not announced yet.
Official site: escapedeathrow.com.au

Out of character

Questions about his disguises

Who is The Undertaker in the Escape This rooms?

The Undertaker is the villain of Buried Alive, a two-player escape room by Escape This. In the room he is never seen: players wake in separate coffins remembering a shovel and a laugh, and must beat his game within 60 minutes. This diary imagines his private life, and his other disguises.

Which villains are The Undertaker’s alter egos?

Three in rooms that are open now, and two in rooms still being built. The Undertaker of Buried Alive is also the cheerful voice on the intercom in Asylum, the Northbridge Butcher in Cannibal and the waiter in Meat Grinder. In development, he is the Night Locksmith of Murder Van and the Keeper of Death Row. Every room still stands on its own.

Is Asylum’s unnamed therapist secretly The Undertaker?

In this diary, yes. Asylum itself never names the voice that calls players his favourite patients and promises therapy until they are better. The Undertaker’s diary treats that voice as one of his disguises, which also fits Asylum’s place as the follow-up to Buried Alive.

How can the Northbridge Butcher be a copycat and The Undertaker at once?

Cannibal’s story calls the Northbridge Butcher a copycat because he borrows from the famous cannibal killers of fiction. The Undertaker’s diary keeps that label and adds a joke: the Butcher is The Undertaker in an apron, furious at being called unoriginal. Both versions are fiction by Escape This.

Who is the waiter in Meat Grinder?

He is Meat Grinder’s villain: players remember a waiter at dinner who seemed slightly off, then wake in his slaughterhouse and realise he was choosing his next guests. The Undertaker’s diary counts him as the newest disguise. Meat Grinder plays only at Escape This Melbourne CBD, 259 Collins Street.

Is Murder Van The Undertaker’s next game?

Yes. The Undertaker sketches Murder Van at length in his diary, and Murder Van’s own story names its killer, the Night Locksmith, as The Undertaker in a new disguise. It is a concept horror escape room Escape This is developing in the same serial killer series, destined for Escape This Northbridge in late 2027.

Where does Death Row fit among The Undertaker’s rooms?

Death Row is a horror escape room in development at Escape This, presented as picking up where Buried Alive left off. Its villain, the Keeper of the fictional Ironwood Penitentiary, is The Undertaker in yet another disguise, and in his diary he has been sketching the room since 2021. Death Row has no venue or opening date yet.

Every question about The Undertaker →