Accommodation Web site Airbnb is offering an overnight stay for two inside the Catacombs of Paris, popularly dubbed the "world's largest grave".
The competition, which is free to enter for all Airbnb users via the service's Web site, offers one winner a private dinner and overnight stay for two on Halloween night, dining and sleeping alongside the bones of some six million people.
The Catacombs of Paris were instituted in the late 18th Century to remedy the public health problems espoused by Paris' numerous overflowing cemeteries. Improper burials, open graves and unearthed remains had become commonplace, giving rise to the spread of diseases and the spoiling of food products.
In 1786, Parisian officials began moving the bones of the dead into the catacombs: an underground network of defunct quarries and mines stretching over 300km. The transfer of bones to the catacombs continued until 1859.
The catacombs attracted elite visitors from their inception, and opened to the public intermittently, but increasingly frequently, throughout the 19th Century. The catacombs continue to be open to the public today, but access has been limited to a small section - about 2km - of the sprawling underground network since 1955.
Paris Town Hall sources reported on Monday that Airbnb paid as much as 350 000 euros (R5.4 million) to temporarily rent out the tunnels, which have previously been hired by film and fashion crews.
Airbnb users can enter the competition using Airbnb's "contact the host" feature to explain to competition judges why they think they are brave enough to spend a night among the dead. Entries close on 21 October.
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