Backrooms and the Rise of Liminal Horror
Digital culture has not only produced new forms of communication in recent years; it also created new mythologies that influenced cinema, art and popular culture. Anonymous stories that once circulated on forums can today turn into multimillion-dollar productions. One of the most striking examples of this is undoubtedly the Backrooms phenomenon. This story, which started with a single photo shared on the internet in 2019, quickly turned into one of the world's most interesting digital horror universes and is today being adapted into a movie by A24, one of Hollywood's most innovative studios.
However, what makes Backrooms interesting is not just that it is an internet legend. This phenomenon represents a new understanding of fear that makes visible the modern man's relationship with space, loneliness, uncertainty and existential anxieties.
The Cultural Phenomenon Started by a Photograph
The origin of Backrooms is based on a very ordinary-looking visual. A photo shared on the 4chan platform in 2019 showed empty rooms surrounded by yellow walls, illuminated by fluorescent lights, and felt like they went on forever. The short text below the photo would launch one of the most influential horror narratives in internet history.
According to this narrative, a person can sometimes falsely “exit” reality and find themselves in the infinite void called Backrooms. There is no exit here, no sense of direction. Only the endless corridors, the smell of old carpet, the hum of fluorescent lights and the presence of an unseen threat are felt.
This idea quickly captured the imagination of internet users. People began to create new layers, new rooms and new stories. Over time, Backrooms has turned into a collective digital mythology.
Kane Pixels and Next Generation Storytelling
The person who made Backrooms spread on a global scale was Kane Parsons. The young content producer, known online as Kane Pixels, reinterpreted the Backrooms universe with short horror films.
While Parsons' YouTube videos reached millions of views, many viewers thought they were professional studio work rather than an independent production. Because the visual effects, camera movements and atmosphere creation were surprisingly successful.
This situation also revealed a new reality: Today, it has become possible for creative talents to create global phenomena without the need for large studios.
As a matter of fact, with A24 purchasing the project, Kane Parsons became one of the youngest directors signed with Hollywood.
The Real Power of Backrooms: Liminal Spaces
What distinguishes Backrooms from an ordinary horror story is not monsters or sudden fear effects. The real power comes from the concept called "liminal space".
The word liminal derives from the Latin word "limen", meaning threshold. This concept, used in fields such as architecture, anthropology and psychology, refers to the transition areas between two situations.
An airport corridor, an empty school building, an abandoned shopping mall at night, or a hotel corridor with no people around can be shown as examples of liminal spaces.
These areas create an interesting feeling:
They are familiar.
But they are also disturbing.
The human mind is accustomed to seeing these areas as normally crowded and active. However, when they are empty, an uneasiness that is difficult to explain arises. Because there is an invisible contradiction between the way the space should be and the way it is seen.
Backrooms is built exactly on this psychological gap.
The Point Where Architecture Turns into Fear
Classic horror movies often focus on external elements that threaten the characters. A murderer, a creature, a paranormal force or an unknown entity is at the center of the story.
Backrooms takes a different approach.
The enemy here is often the place itself.
Endless corridors, rooms that look similar to each other, and a complete loss of sense of direction create serious stress in the human brain. Because the human mind wants to make sense of the environment it is in.
Backrooms makes this impossible.
There are doors but no exit.
There are corridors but no destination.
There is space but no meaning.
Therefore, fear is generated directly from within the architecture.
Horror Aesthetics of Generation Z
One of the important reasons why Backrooms has found such a strong response, especially among younger generations, is that it reflects the spirit of the age.
Today's young people:
uncertainty,
loneliness,
search for identity,
future anxiety,
digital isolation
He grows up with feelings like these.
The endless corridors of Backrooms actually represent not only physical spaces but also this psychological state.
That's why the phenomenon feels not only scary, but also familiar.
Viewers can feel lost in this universe.
A New Genre of Fear: Liminal Horror
In recent years, a new subgenre has begun to emerge in horror cinema: Liminal Horror.
The aim of this genre is not to create sudden jump scares.
The aim is to create unrest.
In this approach, silence, emptiness and atmosphere come to the fore.
Some productions that have attracted attention especially in recent years:
Exit 8
I Saw The TV Glow
skinamarink
Backrooms
Projects such as these are shown among the representatives of this new understanding of fear.
These films aim to disturb the audience rather than scare them.
And most of the time this method is much more effective.
The Effect of Digital Culture on Cinema
Backrooms is also one of the important examples showing the impact of internet culture on cinema.
Once upon a time, urban legends were spread by word of mouth.
Today, digital platforms are producing new fear mythologies.
Slender Man,
The Mandela Catalogue,
Local58,
Backrooms
Examples such as these are considered folklore of the internet age.
These stories are grown by communities, not by a central author.
For this reason, they have a different structure from classical storytelling.
The Future of A24 and Backrooms
A24's involvement in the project shows that Backrooms will not remain just an internet phenomenon.
The studio previously:
Moonlight
Everything Everywhere All At Once
hereditary
midsommar
The Witch
He made cult productions such as.
For this reason, Backrooms has the potential to be not only a popular internet adaptation, but also one of the important examples of the new generation of horror cinema.
Backrooms is one of the most interesting cultural phenomena produced by the internet age. What started as a forum post turned into a digital mythology that grew with the contributions of millions of people, and then into a Hollywood production.
However, what makes this story important is not just the success story.
Backrooms has become a visual metaphor for the modern man's relationship with loneliness, uncertainty and fear of disorientation.
Maybe that's why those endless corridors lined with yellow walls seem so familiar to us.
Because Backrooms is not just a place.
It is also a psychological portrait of our age.
Nur Oğuz