Backrooms | $187,171,741

According to CinemaDrame News Agency, The Backrooms is one of the most famous examples of modern internet folklore, originating as a “creepypasta” (internet horror story) and evolving into a massive, collaborative urban legend. It centers around the concept of accidentally “glitching” out of reality into a vast, unsettling, and seemingly infinite labyrinth of empty spaces.

Here is everything you need to know about the internet’s favorite digital nightmare:

The Core Concept: “Noclipped” Reality

The premise of the Backrooms relies on a video game term called “noclipping”—which is when a player accidentally passes through a solid wall or floor due to a glitch.

According to the lore, if you “noclip” out of bounds in real life, you end up in the Backrooms. It is an endless, maze-like dimension characterized by:

• The distinct smell of old, damp carpet.
• Walls covered in a mono-yellow hue.
• The relentless, deafening buzz of old fluorescent lights.
• Infinite, empty rooms that lead to nowhere.

Liminal Spaces and Psychological Horror

Unlike traditional horror that relies on monsters jumping out of the dark, the Backrooms pioneered the horror of Liminal Spaces.

A liminal space is a transitional place (like an empty hallway, a closed mall at night, or a vacant airport) that feels deeply unsettling because it is devoid of the people who are supposed to be there.

The horror comes from isolation, the feeling of being trapped in a familiar yet deeply unnatural environment, and the psychological dread that you might not be entirely alone.

The Lore: Levels and Entities

While the original story featured just one endless maze (now known as Level 0), the internet community quickly expanded the lore into a massive database (similar to the SCP Foundation). The Backrooms are now divided into thousands of “Levels,” each with its own environment and rules:

• Level 0 (“The Main Lobby”): The classic yellow-walled, buzzing fluorescent labyrinth.
• Level 1 (“Lurking Danger”): A dark, industrial warehouse with concrete floors and flickering lights.
• Level 2 (“Pipe Dreams”): A series of long, claustrophobic maintenance tunnels filled with piping and blistering heat.
• Entities: As you descend deeper, you encounter dangerous, anomalous creatures known as “Entities” (such as Smilers, Skin-Stealers, and The Hounds), making survival even more difficult.

Pop Culture & Media Adaptation

The Backrooms exploded in mainstream popularity thanks to Kane Pixels (Kane Parsons), a young VFX artist who created a series of hyper-realistic, found-footage style short films on YouTube. His videos gave the lore a cinematic feel, capturing the attention of millions.

The Upcoming Movie: The phenomenon became so massive that A24 (the studio behind acclaimed horror movies like Hereditary and Midsommar) teamed up with James Wan’s Atomic Monster to produce a full-length feature film based on the Backrooms, with Kane Parsons directed it.