The Backrooms

File:HobbyTown USA Oshkosh interior under construction 2002 (The Backrooms).jpg, of a HobbyTown under renovation.]]

The Backrooms are a fictional location originating from a 2019 4chan thread. One of the best known examples of the liminal space aesthetic, the Backrooms are usually portrayed as an impossibly large extradimensional expanse of empty rooms, accessed by exiting ("no-clipping out of") reality.

Internet users have expanded on the concept of the Backrooms, introducing concepts such as "levels" and hostile creatures that inhabit the space. In early 2022, American YouTuber Kane Parsons started a series of Backrooms short films on YouTube, which went viral. The videos have been credited with igniting a surge in Backrooms content and taking the concept into the mainstream. Parsons is slated to direct a film adaptation of his series produced by A24.

History

=Original creepypasta=

Between 2011 and 2018, a photograph of a large, carpeted room with fluorescent lights and dividing walls circulated on various message boards, and on May 12, 2019, an anonymous user started a thread on /x/, 4chan's paranormal-themed board, asking users to "post disquieting images that just feel 'off,{{' "}} accompanying the thread with the photograph.{{Cite web |date=12 May 2019 |title=unsettling images |url=https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/22661164/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201004253/https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/22661164/#22661164 |archive-date=February 1, 2022 |access-date=31 January 2022 |publisher=4chan (4plebs) }}{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Andrew |date=March 29, 2022 |title=The Backrooms: How a Creepy Office Photo Became an Internet Bogeyman |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dga98/is-the-backrooms-real |access-date=November 30, 2022 |website=Vice |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130030756/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dga98/is-the-backrooms-real |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Dobuski |first=Michael |date=November 6, 2022 |title=The Backrooms: Horror storytelling goes online |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/backrooms-horror-storytelling-online/story?id=92623707 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |website=ABC News |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110834/https://abcnews.go.com/US/backrooms-horror-storytelling-online/story?id=92623707 |url-status=live }}

Another user replied to this post, giving the image its name and supplying the first description of the Backrooms:

{{Blockquote

|quote = 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 hell has heard you

| author = Anonymous, 4chan (May 13, 2019)

}}

= Growth and fandom =

File:Skin-Stealer OG.jpg

Days after the original creepypasta,{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=John |date=April 4, 2023 |title=The 4Chan Creepypasta That's Taking Over The World (And You May Not Even Realize It) |url=https://kotaku.com/best-creepypasta-what-is-backrooms-tiktok-steam-reddit-1850298058 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525220423/https://kotaku.com/best-creepypasta-what-is-backrooms-tiktok-steam-reddit-1850298058 |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |access-date=April 10, 2023 |website=Kotaku}} users began to share stories about the Backrooms on subreddits such as r/creepypasta and later r/backrooms. A fandom began to develop around the Backrooms and creators expanded upon the original iteration of the creepypasta by creating additional floors or "levels" and entities which populate them. Happy Mag noted in particular two other levels: Level 1, a level with industrial architecture, and Level 2, a darkly lit level with long service tunnels, with the original version named Level 0.{{Cite web |last=Patston |first=Manning |date=3 August 2021 |title=The Backrooms: an eerie phenomenon lies behind these familiar hallways |url=https://happymag.tv/the-backrooms/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201130114/https://happymag.tv/the-backrooms/ |archive-date=1 February 2022 |access-date= |website=Happy Mag}}

As new levels were devised in r/backrooms, a faction of fans who preferred the original Backrooms split off from the fandom. A Reddit user named Litbeep created another subreddit called r/TrueBackrooms focusing only on the original version. ABC News said that unlike fandoms surrounding existing properties, the lack of a canonical Backrooms made "drawing a line between authentic storytelling and jokes" difficult. By March 2022, r/backrooms had over 157,000 members.

The fandom steadily expanded onto other platforms with the upload of videos on Twitter and TikTok. Wikis hosted on Fandom and Wikidot dedicated to the Backrooms lore were established.{{Cite web |last=Benoit-Gonin |first=Corentin |date=April 29, 2022 |title=" The Backrooms ", " Fondation SCP " : pour faire peur, ils écrivent leurs histoires à plusieurs |trans-title=The Backrooms, SCP Foundation: they write their stories to scare |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2022/04/29/the-backrooms-fondation-scp-pour-faire-peur-ils-ecrivent-leurs-histoires-a-plusieurs_6124195_4408996.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212102559/https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2022/04/29/the-backrooms-fondation-scp-pour-faire-peur-ils-ecrivent-leurs-histoires-a-plusieurs_6124195_4408996.html |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Le Monde |language=fr}} Dan Erickson, creator of the television series Severance (2022), named the Backrooms as one of his many influences while working on the series.{{Cite web |last=Francisco |first=Eric |date=February 24, 2022 |title=Severance reveals the 'scary' and 'surreal' underbelly of office work in 2022 |url=https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/severance-apple-tv-plus-interview-dan-erickson-ben-stiller-adam-scott |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305035425/https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/severance-apple-tv-plus-interview-dan-erickson-ben-stiller-adam-scott |archive-date=March 5, 2022 |access-date= |website=Inverse}}

=Image origin=

Until 2024, the source of the original Backrooms image was not widely known.{{cite web |last1=Beschizza |first1=Rob |date=May 30, 2024 |title=Original "Backrooms" photo of yellowing office dungeon finally identified as Oshkosh HobbyTown |url=https://boingboing.net/2024/05/30/original-backrooms-photo-of-yellowing-office-dungeon-finally-identified-as-oshkosh-hobbytown.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531004040/https://boingboing.net/2024/05/30/original-backrooms-photo-of-yellowing-office-dungeon-finally-identified-as-oshkosh-hobbytown.html |archive-date=May 31, 2024 |website=Boing Boing}} In May 2024, a Twitter user announced in a now-viral post that their friend had discovered the image's origin.{{cite web |last1=Marcelino |first1=Kyle |date=May 30, 2024 |title=Original 'Backrooms' Image Finally Found After 20 Years |url=https://www.itechpost.com/articles/122593/20240530/original-backrooms-image-finally-found-20-years.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530210745/https://www.itechpost.com/articles/122593/20240530/original-backrooms-image-finally-found-20-years.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2024 |website=iTech Post}} This was the result of a combined effort in a Backrooms-dedicated Discord community,{{cite web |last1=Koebler |first1=Jason |date=May 30, 2024 |title=Internet Sleuths Finally Find Origin of 'The Backrooms' Creepypasta Image |url=https://www.404media.co/internet-sleuths-trace-the-backrooms-creepypasta-to-an-rc-car-race-track-in-wisconsin/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530202703/https://www.404media.co/internet-sleuths-trace-the-backrooms-creepypasta-to-an-rc-car-race-track-in-wisconsin/ |archive-date=May 30, 2024 |website=The 404 Media Podcast}} which traced the image to an archived webpage from March 2003 using the Wayback Machine.{{cite web |last1=Burlingame |first1=Russ |title=The Backrooms: Lost Media Fans Have Finally Identified Where the Creepypasta Photo Was Taken |url=https://comicbook.com/movies/news/the-backrooms-lost-media-identified-original-creepypasta-photo/ |website=ComicBook.com |date=May 30, 2024}}

The image was found to have been taken during the renovation of "a former furniture store with plenty of partitions and fake inner walls" in Wisconsin.{{Cite web |last=Marville |first=JR Radcliffe and Justin |title=Our biggest story of 2024: The Wisconsin origins of the internet meme 'The Backrooms' |url=https://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/local/oshkosh/2024/12/18/biggest-story-of-2024-the-wisconsin-origins-of-the-backrooms-meme/77048575007/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Oshkosh Northwestern |language=en-US}} For much of the 20th century, Rohner's Home Furnishings occupied 807 and 811 Oregon Street, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.{{cite news |title=The Oshkosh Northwestern |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oshkosh-northwestern/12180916/ |access-date=May 30, 2024 |publisher=Newspaper.com |date=February 25, 1978 |page=75}} In 1994, 807 Oregon Street was acquired by a new tenant, a branch of the American hobby shop chain HobbyTown.

Sometime in 2002, the second story underwent renovations. On June 12, 2002, the progress was photographed with a Sony Cyber-shot camera, and on March 2, 2003, the various interior views were documented on the Oshkosh branch's renovation weblog. One photograph depicts a carpeted, open room with yellow wallpaper and fluorescent lighting on a Dutch angle. Uploaded with the file name "Dsc00161.jpg"; this is the image that would go on to inspire the concept of the Backrooms.{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2003 |title=The New 'Revolution Raceway' |url=http://www.hobbytownoshkosh.com:80/revolution%20raceway,%20020903.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030503094137/http://www.hobbytownoshkosh.com:80/revolution%20raceway,%20020903.htm |archivedate=May 3, 2003 |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=HobbyTown USA – Oshkosh}} The image was captioned as an original view of "the East (Oval) room", and noted that no windows were visible. The blog entry described extensive water damage that required the area to be cleared. HobbyTown has since converted the facility into a radio-controlled car racing track called Revolution Racing, and the room's original layout is now gone.{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2003 |title=The New 'Revolution Raceway' |url=http://www.hobbytownoshkosh.com:80/revolution%20raceway,%20020903.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030503094137/http://www.hobbytownoshkosh.com:80/revolution%20raceway,%20020903.htm |archivedate=May 3, 2003 |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=HobbyTown USA – Oshkosh}}

Reception

File:Lorain High School hallway.jpg, which include "images of eerie and uninhabited spaces", such as the above empty hallway.{{Cite web |last=Yalcinkaya |first=Günseli |date=14 April 2021 |title=Inside the uncanny world of #liminalspaces TikTok |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/52477/1/inside-the-uncanny-world-of-liminal-spaces-tiktok-reddit-nostalgia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131233519/https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/52477/1/inside-the-uncanny-world-of-liminal-spaces-tiktok-reddit-nostalgia |archive-date=31 January 2022 |access-date= |website=Dazed}} |alt=An example of a liminal space. This is an image of a long, empty hallway.]]

Some sources believe the Backrooms to have been the origin of the internet aesthetic of liminal spaces, which depict usually busy locations as unnaturally empty. The #liminalspaces hashtag has amassed nearly 100 million views on TikTok.{{Cite web |last=Koch |first=Karl Emil |date=2 November 2020 |title=Architecture: The Cult Following Of Liminal Space |url=https://museemagazine.com/features/2020/11/1/the-cult-following-of-liminal-space |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217150255/https://museemagazine.com/features/2020/11/1/the-cult-following-of-liminal-space |archive-date=17 December 2021 |access-date= |website=Musée Magazine}} Paste's Phoenix Simms wrote that the Backrooms and games such as the more absurdist The Stanley Parable is "tied to a long tradition of the liminal in horror" and the color yellow as a symbol of caution, deterioration, and existential distress. The Backrooms' is "a fungal, sickly yellow", where both the person and the mind can lose themselves.{{Cite web |last=Simms |first=Phoenix |date=October 30, 2023 |title=The Stanley Parable and The Backrooms Honor Horror's Yellow History |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/the-stanley-parable/the-stanley-parable-and-the-backrooms-honor-horrors-yellow-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331144314/https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/the-stanley-parable/the-stanley-parable-and-the-backrooms-honor-horrors-yellow-history |archive-date=March 31, 2024 |access-date=April 1, 2024 |website=Paste}}

PC Gamer compared the Backrooms' various levels to H. P. Lovecraft's R'lyeh and The City in the manga Blame!, describing it as "an uncanny valley of place". ABC News and {{Lang|fr|Le Monde}} grouped the Backrooms into an "emerging genre of collaborative online horror" which also includes the SCP Foundation. Kotaku said that this collaborative aspect, as well as the lack of overt horror or threat, made the Backrooms stand out from other creepypastas. Both Kotaku and Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, felt that the Backrooms was scary "because [it invites] you to interpret what's not shown". While Leaver believed that the "eerie feeling of familiarity" helped draw fans together, Kotaku said that the horror was in part derived from the subtle "wrongness" present in liminal spaces.

A TikTok trend of videos that zoom in on Google Earth to reveal an entrance to the Backrooms has grown popular.{{Cite web |last=Dirga |first=Nik |date=July 7, 2022 |title=WA island bunker image is a mysterious dose of fantasy |url=https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/wa-island-bunker-image-is-a-mysterious-dose-of-fantasy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130030803/https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/wa-island-bunker-image-is-a-mysterious-dose-of-fantasy/ |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=AAP Factcheck}}

Adaptations

=YouTube=

In January 2022, a short horror film titled "The Backrooms (Found Footage)" was uploaded to YouTube. Created by then-16-year-old Kane Parsons of Northern California, known online as Kane Pixels, it is presented as a VHS tape recorded by a filmmaker who accidentally enters the Backrooms in the 1990s and is pursued by a monster.{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=February 6, 2023 |title='The Backrooms' Horror Film Based On Viral Shorts By 17-Year-Old Kane Parsons In Works At A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin & 21 Laps |url=https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/ |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Deadline Hollywood |language=en-US |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206160550/https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Fuster |first=Jeremy |date=February 6, 2023 |title=YouTube Horror Hit 'The Backrooms' to Be Made Into A24 Feature Film by Its Teenage Creator |url=https://www.thewrap.com/backrooms-a24-kane-parsons-youtube/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |website=TheWrap}} Parsons used the software Blender and Adobe After Effects to create the environment of the Backrooms, and it took him a month to complete it. He described the Backrooms as a manifestation of a poorly remembered recollection of the late 90s and early 2000s. The video has over 66 million views {{As of|2025|April|lc=y}}.{{Cite magazine |last=Rogers |first=Reece |date=May 11, 2022 |title=How to 'No-Clip' Reality and Arrive in the Backrooms |url=https://www.wired.com/story/what-are-the-backrooms/ |url-access=limited |access-date=November 30, 2022 |magazine=Wired |archive-date=July 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710155216/https://www.wired.com/story/what-are-the-backrooms/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dGpz6cnHo |title=The Backrooms (Found Footage) |date=January 6, 2022 |last=Parsons |first=Kane |type=Short film |publisher=YouTube. Kane Pixels |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=January 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130174908/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dGpz6cnHo |url-status=live }}

The short was praised by the fandom and received positive reviews from critics. WPST called it "the scariest video on the Internet".{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Erica |date=17 January 2022 |title='The Backrooms' Viral Horror Short Explained |url=https://wpst.com/is-this-viral-found-footage-horror-short-the-scariest-video-on-the-internet/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131223735/https://wpst.com/is-this-viral-found-footage-horror-short-the-scariest-video-on-the-internet/ |archive-date=31 January 2022 |access-date= |publisher=WPST}} Otaku USA categorized it as analog horror,{{Cite news |last=Dennison |first=Kara |date=7 February 2022 |title=See Attack on Titan Through the Eyes of Backrooms Director Kane Pixels |newspaper=Otaku USA |url=https://otakuusamagazine.com/attack-on-titan-backrooms/ |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207193634/https://otakuusamagazine.com/attack-on-titan-backrooms/ |archive-date=7 February 2022}} while Dread Central and Nerdist compared it favorably to the 2019 video game Control.{{Cite web |last=McAndrews |first=Mary Beth |date=14 January 2022 |title='The Backrooms' Is A Found Footage Nightmare Freaking Out The Internet |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/421920/the-backrooms-is-a-found-footage-nightmare-freaking-out-the-internet/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131223734/https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/421920/the-backrooms-is-a-found-footage-nightmare-freaking-out-the-internet/ |archive-date=31 January 2022 |access-date= |publisher=Dread Central}}{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Kyle |date=March 22, 2022 |title=TERRIFYING BACKROOMS SHORT FILM IS ALSO SUPER IMPRESSIVE |url=https://nerdist.com/article/backrooms-horror-found-footage-short-film-kane-pixels/ |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Nerdist |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231070822/https://nerdist.com/article/backrooms-horror-found-footage-short-film-kane-pixels/ |url-status=live }} Kotaku praised the series for exercising restraint in its horror and mystery. Boing Boing{{'}}s Rob Beschizza predicted that the Backrooms, like the creepypasta Slender Man and its panned 2018 film adaptation, would eventually be adapted into a "slick but dismal 2-hour Hollywood movie."{{Cite web |last=Beschizza |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Beschizza |date=1 February 2022 |title=Explore The Backrooms in this short found-footage horror flick |url=https://boingboing.net/2022/02/01/explore-the-backrooms-in-this-short-found-footage-horror-flick.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201134907/https://boingboing.net/2022/02/01/explore-the-backrooms-in-this-short-found-footage-horror-flick.html |archive-date=1 February 2022 |access-date= |website=Boing Boing}}

Expanding his videos into a series of short films,{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Carson |date=February 7, 2023 |title=YouTube Horror Series The Backrooms Is Getting Turned Into a Feature Film |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/youtube-horror-series-the-backrooms-is-getting-turned-into-a-feature-film |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211002051/https://www.ign.com/articles/youtube-horror-series-the-backrooms-is-getting-turned-into-a-feature-film |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=IGN |language=en}} Parsons introduced plot aspects such as Async, an organization which opened a portal into the Backrooms in the 1980s and conducted research within it. The series has collectively garnered over 188 million views.{{Cite web |last=Goslin |first=Austen |date=February 8, 2023 |title=Viral horror video The Backrooms will be a movie from A24 and its 17-year-old director |url=https://www.polygon.com/23591121/backrooms-youtube-video-a24-movie-kane-parsons |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Polygon |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211073801/https://www.polygon.com/23591121/backrooms-youtube-video-a24-movie-kane-parsons |url-status=live }} It is also credited with lifting the Backrooms from obscurity into the mainstream internet and causing a surge in Backrooms content,{{Cite web |last=Wickens |first=Katie |date=July 7, 2022 |title=Noclipping is no joke: the strange world of The Backrooms explained |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/noclipping-is-no-joke-the-strange-world-of-the-backrooms-explained/ |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=PC Gamer |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130030803/https://www.pcgamer.com/noclipping-is-no-joke-the-strange-world-of-the-backrooms-explained/ |url-status=live }} particularly on YouTube.{{Cite web |last=Gutelle |first=Sam |date=February 9, 2023 |title=Teenage creator Kane Parsons will direct a Backrooms horror movie |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/02/09/kane-pixels-parsons-the-backrooms-creepy-pasta-horror-movie-a24/ |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Tubefilter |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211073803/https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/02/09/kane-pixels-parsons-the-backrooms-creepy-pasta-horror-movie-a24/ |url-status=live }} For his shorts, Parsons received a Creator Honors at the 2022 Streamy Awards from The Game Theorists.{{Cite web |last=Tinoco |first=Armando |date=December 4, 2022 |title=YouTube Streamy Awards 2022 Winners List: Charli D'Amelio, MissDarcei, MrBeast & Cooking With Lynja Among Victors |url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/youtube-streamy-awards-2022-winners-list-charli-damelio-missdarcei-mrbeast-cooking-with-lynja-1235189133/ |access-date=January 12, 2023 |website=Deadline Hollywood |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206005333/https://deadline.com/2022/12/youtube-streamy-awards-2022-winners-list-charli-damelio-missdarcei-mrbeast-cooking-with-lynja-1235189133/ |url-status=live }}

= Film adaptation =

On February 6, 2023, A24 announced that they are working on a film adaptation of the Backrooms based on Parsons' videos, with Parsons directing. Roberto Patino is set to write the screenplay, while James Wan, Michael Clear from Atomic Monster, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine of 21 Laps are set to produce.

=''American Horror Stories''=

An episode inspired by the Backrooms was included in the third season of American Horror Stories, a direct spin-off to American Horror Story.{{Cite web |last=Swift |first=Andy |date=2024-10-01 |title=American Horror Stories Trailer: Debby Ryan, Victor Garber and More Star in Five Spooky Stories |url=https://tvline.com/casting-news/american-horror-stories-season-4-cast-release-date-trailer-hulu-1235329860/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=TVLine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Kurland |first=Daniel |date=2024-10-16 |title='American Horror Stories' Season 3 Ups Its Game & Becomes the Perfect Halloween Treat [Review] |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3835553/american-horror-stories-season-3-ups-its-game-becomes-the-perfect-halloween-treat-review/ |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Bloody Disgusting! |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Zachary |first=Brandon |date=2024-10-15 |title=American Horror Stories Season 4: Backrooms Ending Explained |url=https://screenrant.com/american-horror-stories-season-4-episode-1-backrooms-ending-explained/ |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} The episode stars Michael Imperioli as a grief-stricken screenwriter that falls in and out of the "Backrooms", mundane locations where he is confronted by a manifestation of his missing son.{{Cite web |last=Zachary |first=Brandon |date=2024-10-15 |title=American Horror Stories Season 4: Backrooms Cast & Character Guide |url=https://screenrant.com/american-horror-stories-season-4-episode-1-backrooms-cast-characters/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} The episode was one in a group of five to be released as a "Huluween event".{{Cite web |last=Piña |first=Christy |date=2024-10-01 |title=Henry Winkler, Michael Imperioli Bring Chills to 'American Horror Stories' Trailer |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/american-horror-stories-trailer-henry-winkler-michael-imperioli-1236018912/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}

= Video games =

The Backrooms have been adapted into numerous video games, including on the platforms Steam and Roblox.{{Cite web |last=Loeffler |first=Jeffrey |date=July 6, 2022 |title=Enter the Backrooms: five games that explore the new creepy internet sensation |url=https://www.techradar.com/news/best-backrooms-games-no-clipping-has-never-been-more-fun-or-terrifying |access-date=February 10, 2023 |website=TechRadar |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212212727/https://www.techradar.com/news/best-backrooms-games-no-clipping-has-never-been-more-fun-or-terrifying |url-status=live }} An indie game was released by Pie on a Plate Productions two months after the original creepypasta,{{Cite web |title=The Backrooms Game for PC Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-backrooms-game/critic-reviews/?platform=pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324224428/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-backrooms-game |archive-date=24 March 2022 |access-date= |publisher=Metacritic}} and was positively reviewed for its atmosphere but received criticism for its short length.{{Cite web |last=Sandal |first=Michael L |date=April 30, 2020 |title='The Backrooms Game' Brings a Modern Creepypasta to Life [What We Play in the Shadows] |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3614536/play-shadows-backrooms-game-brings-modern-creepypasta-life/ |access-date=January 12, 2023 |website=Bloody Disgusting |language=en-US |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226134645/https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3614536/play-shadows-backrooms-game-brings-modern-creepypasta-life/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Astrid |date=16 August 2019 |title=Reviews Roulette: The one with Tony Hawk on a unicycle |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/reviews-roulette-the-one-with-tony-hawk-on-a-unicycle |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211015004/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/reviews-roulette-the-one-with-tony-hawk-on-a-unicycle |archive-date=11 February 2022 |access-date= |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |at=At 24:57 |type=Video}}{{Cite web |last=Zamora |first=Gabriel |date=13 August 2019 |title=The 15 Best Free Steam Games |url=https://au.pcmag.com/gaming-5/58000/the-15-best-free-steam-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206011344/https://au.pcmag.com/gaming-5/58000/the-15-best-free-steam-games |archive-date=6 February 2022 |access-date= |website=PCMag}} Many others, such as Enter the Backrooms, Noclipped and The Backrooms Project, were released in the following years. Co-op multiplayer Escape the Backrooms by Fancy Games was praised by Bloody Disgusting for its depiction of the extended lore,{{Cite web |last=H. C. |first=Luis |date=December 26, 2022 |title=Six of the Best Indie Horror Video Games You May Have Missed in 2022 |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3743984/six-of-the-best-indie-horror-video-games-you-may-have-missed-in-2022/ |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Bloody Disgusting |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212014544/https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3743984/six-of-the-best-indie-horror-video-games-you-may-have-missed-in-2022/ |url-status=live }} while The Backrooms 1998 (both 2022), a psychological survival horror game independently released by one-person developer Steelkrill Studio, was noted by reviewers for its found footage visuals and limited save system.{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Mike |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Escape While Staying Sane in Psychological Horror Game 'The Backrooms 1998′ [Trailer] |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3721418/escape-while-staying-sane-in-psychological-horror-game-the-backrooms-1998-trailer/ |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Bloody Disgusting |language=en-US |archive-date=February 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228132329/https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3721418/escape-while-staying-sane-in-psychological-horror-game-the-backrooms-1998-trailer/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Ed |date=September 27, 2022 |title=The Backrooms has a new, terrifying survival horror game, out now |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/backrooms-1998-new-survival-horror-game |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=PCGamesN |language=en |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201071652/https://www.pcgamesn.com/backrooms-1998-new-survival-horror-game |url-status=live }}