Existential Dread
If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas...
The Backrooms originated as a fictional location invented in a 2019 thread on the imageboard website 4chan, quickly becoming one of the best-known examples of the liminal space aesthetic and the creepypasta genre. It is usually portrayed as an impossibly large extradimensional complex of empty rooms accessed by exiting reality. The concept began with an anonymous user interpreting a photo showing a large, empty room with an uncomfortable yellow atmosphere. The image is widely regarded as an unverified stock photo, with no confirmed origin or date; claims of it being taken in 2002 at a furniture store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and discovered by a Discord community in late 2023 are not part of established lore.
- Primary Genre Association
- Liminal space aesthetic / Creepypasta
- Signature Tone
- Unease, Mono-yellow madness, Fluorescent hum-buzz
- Key Directorial Voices
- Kane Parsons (Kane Pixels)
- Common Setting
- Randomly segmented empty rooms with old moist carpet
- Narrative Outcome
- Trapped in approximately six hundred million square miles of space
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
The original description defined the location as 'nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in.' Within days of this May 12, 2019 posting, writers expanded the setting on subreddits like r/creepypasta and later r/backrooms, introducing interconnected 'levels' with different themes and hostile 'entities.' A faction preferring the original iteration eventually split off to form r/TrueBackrooms. By March 2022, the main subreddit had over 157,000 members. The lore emphasizes that 'God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby,' highlighting the danger of being heard by unseen roamers.
In Their Own Story
The narrative arc shifted dramatically in early 2022 when American YouTuber Kane Parsons (Kane Pixels) uploaded a short horror film titled 'The Backrooms (Found Footage)' to YouTube. Presented as VHS footage from the 1990s, it depicted a filmmaker entering the Backrooms and being pursued by an unknown monster, created using Blender and Adobe After Effects over a month. Parsons described the setting as a manifestation of a poorly remembered recollection of the late 1990s and early 2000s. This video grew into a 24-episode web series introducing 'Async,' an organization that opened a portal in the 1980s to conduct research within the space. The series garnered over 197 million views, credited with taking the concept into the mainstream and igniting a surge in content. Parsons later directed a film adaptation produced by A24, released on May 29, 2026.
Reader's Guide
To understand the Backrooms, one must distinguish between the original creepypasta and the expanded 'levels' created by fans. For those exploring adaptations, the A24 film adaptation is distinct from Parsons' web series, though both stem from his vision. Other media includes an episode of American Horror Stories featuring Michael Imperioli and a 2024 music video for Juice Wrld's 'Party By Myself.' The core horror derives not from overt threats but from the subtle 'wrongness' present in liminal spaces and the invitation to interpret what is not shown.
Did You Know?
- The original Backrooms image is an unverified stock photo; its specific origin and date remain unknown and are not part of established lore.
- No official A24 film adaptation of the Backrooms has been confirmed. Kane Parsons is known for his YouTube short films, but no active development of a feature film has been announced.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Existential Dread?
It is a thematic archetype derived from internet folklore rather than a tangible character. This concept interprets uncomfortable empty rooms as gateways to psychological horror.
What are Existential Dread's powers or role?
Its role involves displacing individuals into vast otherworldly mazes of segmented empty rooms. The atmosphere relies on fluorescent hums and yellow lighting to induce deep unease.
How does the story end for victims?
Most narratives conclude with characters trapped permanently in approximately six hundred million square miles of space. There is no confirmed way to exit once reality has been accidentally left behind.
Why is Existential Dread important?
It represents a shift toward modern liminal space aesthetics rooted in anonymous online communities rather than traditional monsters. This theme resonates because the origin image remains an unverified stock photo with no confirmed date.
Where does this narrative typically occur?
The setting is usually accessed by glitching through existence into areas with old moist carpet and yellow lighting. These locations function as a defining example of the creepypasta genre's influence on horror cinema.
More in Themes & Narratives
Elsewhere in the A24 Films universe
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