The Backrooms Creepypasta, Explained

Kane Parsons’ new A24 film is generating buzz with critics and is expected to do well in theaters, introducing millions to the world of The Backrooms. This creepy online story first appeared in 2019 and quickly became incredibly popular, evolving as others added to it. It essentially created a new type of horror game, inspiring titles like Escape the Backrooms, Inside the Backrooms, and Backrooms: Escape Together, which have drawn huge audiences into these strange and unsettling virtual spaces.

A24’s film, Backrooms, is bringing this popular online idea to a wider audience. By next week, many people will likely know about the Backrooms, whether through the movie or one of the existing video games. With all the recent attention, it’s easy to forget where the Backrooms originally came from. Let’s take a look at how it started, how it’s changed over time, and how different versions of the story have emerged.

Like all great and horrifying internet legends, our story begins on 4chan…

I’m focusing on how the Backrooms creepypasta has evolved over time, not on trying to deeply analyze it. The original post itself doesn’t really require a lot of explanation.

The Original Backrooms Post – The Birth Of A Creepypasta

A Disquieting Image That Feels Off

Archived page of Backrooms’ 4chan genesis

People discovering the detailed stories behind the Backrooms might be surprised to learn it started with a very basic idea. It began as a simple request on 4chan for images that felt unsettling. The original creator shared a strange, single-colored yellow room with buzzing fluorescent lights and damp, musty carpet, filled with what looked like never-ending empty spaces. Later, another anonymous user added a short phrase that really launched the Backrooms into popularity.

If you accidentally glitch outside of the normal world in certain places, you might find yourself in the Backrooms…

The image evoked a feeling of unsettling dread, stemming from both loneliness and the feeling of being watched. It wasn’t part of a larger story – there were no characters, monsters, or complex plot. The popularity of the Backrooms creepypasta came from its ability to tap into our basic fear of the unknown.

The Backrooms gained popularity with gamers because of a technique called “noclip” – something many players of Bethesda games will recognize. Noclip simply refers to the act of passing through solid objects like walls or floors.

Collective Fear – The Horror Of A Creepypasta

Liminal Spaces & Kenopsia

Before we delve deeper into the history of the Backrooms, let’s explore why this creepypasta resonated so strongly online. The initial image that started it all draws on two well-established ideas that have long been used to create horror and fear.

Liminal Spaces – This term refers to places defined by life and activity, and they are often transitional in nature. You know, places like school hallways, malls, hotel corridors, and office buildings; you expect to see people coming and going. Locations become liminal spaces when they are empty and devoid of humanity. Dead places.
Kenopsia – This ties directly into liminal spaces, but refers specifically to the eerie atmosphere of an abandoned place that should be filled with crowds. Have you ever been to a mall on a day when all the shops are closed? Or, maybe, a school or office at night? They feel incredibly off, like you stumbled into an alternative dimension where things aren’t quite right.

The Backrooms cleverly taps into that unsettling feeling many of us have experienced at some point – that sense of being in a place that feels strangely familiar yet wrong.

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The Expanded Universe – The Evolution Of A Creepypasta

Going Beyond The Minimalist Original

The Backrooms discussion can be divided into two opposing forces: Minimalists and, well, Wikis.

Minimalists believe the Backrooms is only the original yellow maze with no monsters. The horror comes from the isolation, desperation, and deafening silence. (Full disclosure, I would consider myself part of this group. Nothing that came after sent a chill down my spine quite like the original Backrooms photo.)
Wikis, aka the Expanded Universe, refer to all the community lore that exploded after the Backrooms became an inescapable part of internet culture. If somebody wants to dive into this side of the creepypasta, they should start with the Backrooms Wiki, although other Fandoms exist.

The collection of stories outside the main series grew so large and complex that it would be impossible to cover everything. Still, there are a few important ideas from those stories that we should discuss.

Levels – With the yellow rooms representing Level 0, each floor introduces a new type of setting, be it a warehouse, hotel, electrical station, or more cerebral concepts that dominate the deeper levels. As of right now, the Wiki lists 999 levels, even if not all of them have been outlined.
Factions (Or Groups) – I mean, are you surprised we have factions? This category refers to organizations that operate within the backrooms, be it to contain, research, or weaponize. The ADF and MEG are probably the most powerful, but many others exist.
Entities– On the surface, this classification might simply seem to include monsters that live within the Backrooms, but that description doesn’t cover all of them. Creatures like Smilers, Hounds, Skin-Stealers, and Deathmoths are “classic” aggressive monsters; however, Entities also refers to passive, uncanny beings like Facelings. Certain Entities are even helpful, like Jerry or Partypoopers. Finally, we even have non-biological anomalies that are essentially glitches in the Backrooms’ matrix.

The Backrooms originally had a rich and fascinating history, built by a dedicated community, and it’s great that they put so much effort into creating its world. However, recent changes have fundamentally shifted what the Backrooms is. It’s moved away from being a psychological, unsettling horror experience and now feels more like a science fiction universe, almost like a role-playing game.

Basically, the Backrooms became SCP.

The Point Of No Return – The Viral Revolution of a Creepypasta

Kane Pixels’ Road To A24

Check out Kane Pixel’s The Backrooms (Found Footage) short on YouTube

The Backrooms started gaining popularity online in early 2022, but it really took off when Kane Parsons, known as Kane Pixels, published his short found footage video on YouTube. This video caught the eye of A24, the production company behind a well-received film that brought the Backrooms creepypasta into the mainstream. You could say the Backrooms is an infinite, pointless maze, but it unexpectedly led Kane Pixels to success in Hollywood – and rightfully so, as his short film is exceptionally well-made.

As a huge fan of horror, I was genuinely creeped out by what Parsons did with the Backrooms. He took this already unsettling online story and, using Blender, turned it into a truly terrifying example of ‘analog horror’ – it felt like something you’d stumble across on an old VHS tape. What really got me was how he blended the creepypasta with a corporate sci-fi vibe. He created this company, the Async Research Institute, and called the Backrooms ‘The Complex,’ framing it as a failed attempt to solve overpopulation. It just added another layer of dread to an already disturbing concept.

The Gaming Boom – The Commercialization Of A Creepypasta

Many, Many Games Set In The Backrooms

The Backrooms quickly became deeply connected to gaming, and vice versa. After Kane Pixels’ popular video sparked interest, many Backrooms games appeared on Steam. A lot of these games seemed rushed and were clearly made to capitalize on the trend. Most didn’t try to expand the Backrooms story; they simply used the existing idea and materials.

While many games in this style feel similar, a few truly stand out, and it’s important to acknowledge both the good and the bad. Even before dedicated Backrooms games were released, players were building Backrooms levels in games like Garry’s Mod, Roblox, and Minecraft, proving the concept had already captured people’s imaginations and inspired creative interpretations of its story.

The Final Validation – The Hollywoodification Of A Creepypasta

The Modern Mythos

It’s amazing that Kane Parsons is directing a Backrooms movie at just 20 years old, and it’s worth considering what this opportunity represents.

As a total movie buff, it’s wild to me how something that started as a quick image and some text on 4chan could actually become a Hollywood film – and one that looks like it’s going to make a lot of money! We saw this happen with Slenderman a while back, and other creepypastas have gotten the movie treatment too, but none of them really stuck with me the way the Backrooms did. It’s not about a monster lurking in the woods; what makes the Backrooms so genuinely scary is how…normal it is. It’s brightly lit, clean, and feels like a place built for people, but it’s completely empty. That infinite, human-scaled space with absolutely nobody in it? That’s what gets under your skin.

The story of the Backrooms has developed less like typical online horror stories and more like traditional folklore or tales told around a campfire. It’s expanded and changed over time through online forums, wikis, video games, and even a recent movie, but the core idea has always stuck with people.

2026-05-30 21:38