FUN FACT: Under the Surface was inspired by true events!
When I first toured the Paris catacombs in 2015, our guide shared how in the 1800s, thieves would pose as tour guides to lure people deep into the catacombs, then rob them and leave them to find their way out of the pitch-black tunnels alone. If their victims were lucky, the thief would let them keep a lamp.
That’s why there’s now a thick black line painted along the ceiling of the official tour route, so if anyone ever found themselves lost without a map or guide, they could follow the line to the exit… if they could see it. They called it the “lifeline” because it was your chance to escape alive.
This anecdote was the original inspiration for Under the Surface. It’d be terrifying to get lost in that dark maze with only one flashlight, the battery like a ticking timer. What a story that would make! What if a group of teens got lost down there? What if one of the girls was in love with a boy aboveground who had no idea where she went? So the idea was born.
(Fortunately, my own tour guide was not a thief!)





