What Are 'The Backrooms'? The Classic Meme Turned Movie, Explained

Pale flickering light falls over the faintly-patterned walls. The carpet underfoot swallows your steps. The only sound you can hear is the hum-buzz of fluorescents and your own breathing. But wait, is that your breathing? Or is that… something rattles, something seems to scuff. You've lost track of how long you've been here. Every turn brings you to the same place.

This is The Backrooms.

What Are The Backrooms?

The Backrooms are a latter-day creepypasta, an imagined labyrinth of '90s-style office building hallways holding horrors beyond human comprehension. The Backrooms are an alternate reality realm that has captured the internet's imagination, combining the thrill of horror fiction with the eerie vibes of liminal space.

Where Did The Backrooms Originate?

The Backrooms originated on a 4chan thread in the spring of 2018. Anons were sharing images of spooky liminal spaces and one of them shared a yellow-tinted empty office space. Another user added a caption, laying out the mythos and vibe of The Backrooms:

If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's 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.
God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as h*** has heard you.

Are the Backrooms Real?

Yes. Be careful.

Will There Be A Backrooms Movie?

A major motion picture based on the Backrooms is in the works at A24, the indie studio which has made a name for itself through the production of popular horror films like Midsommar and the Hereditary. The movie was announced in February of 2023. Many of the details are under wraps, but it seems to be inspired by the Backrooms YouTube video. It will be directed by the same filmmaker, Kane Parsons, who made the YouTube video.

What Happens If X In The Backrooms?

If you're in the Backrooms, there is nothing left to do. You can't get out. But that hasn't stopped posters from wondering What Happens if X In The Backrooms, with X meaning whatever activity you'd be curious about. The trend picked up steam on TikTok in the summer of 2023, with users reveling in what by then was a classic piece of internet lore.

For the full history of The Backrooms, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.