Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Check out my novel!
https://a.co/d/d8gPQ74
More info about my current projects on my website:
mattbwrites.com Many people have seen the "The Backrooms" either on YouTube or somewhere else. Some might wonder what the hype is about, others might find these sorts of concepts disturbing or frightening. Why are liminal spaces like the backrooms frightening?
Transcript:
The Backrooms are better shown than described. This is the backrooms. So is this, and this… onward forever.
They are a basic office space, with basic wallpaper and carpet and no furnishings and they never end. This is the idea behind the backrooms, and this idea has sparked many recreations, from film to video games. it seems pretty boring on its face, why is everyone so into it? And even more curiously, why are so many people afraid of it?
To get into that we are going to have to explain a bit more about the concept behind the backrooms. You see, the backrooms are just one example of a “liminal space”. Liminal spaces are, literally places that are on the threshold of two spaces. These often include corridors and hallways, but the concept can be extended to spaces on the threshold of their usage. That is, spaces that are for some reason out of their element.
Think about perhaps a school at nighttime, or an arcade that’s all turned off. These spaces are on the edge of being familiar and comfortable, but don’t quite make it.
So, the backrooms, as a liminal space, offer us a sense of familiarity, but not enough to put us at ease. But why is this scary?
I think there are at least three reasons that the backrooms would be fear inducing for some. This is not an exhaustive list, but a couple of theories that you can put to the test. Because it actually has more to do with us than it does with the backrooms themselves.
Number one
Let’s think about the demographic of the people interested in concepts like the backrooms. Lots of this stuff is propagated on Reddit, whose user base is largely male and largely between the ages of 20 and 40. So we are talking about millennial males, by and large.
So, what about the backrooms might be scary to a millennial male? I think it’s because the backrooms are what so many of our generation fear- endlessly mundane. Nihilism is rampant in our generation, and with so much entertainment and so little substantive value in our lives, many people are asking what it’s all for. Many are worried that their lives will amount to endless nothingness- empty and without meaning. This is very scary, and the backrooms illustrate this feeling very well.
Here is an experiment worth conducting- track down some people who have found meaning and purpose in their lives. Ask them if they find the backrooms disturbing or scary. My wager is they won’t.
Number two
The backrooms, like many liminal spaces, is rather specific in when it is set. You don’t see office spaces like this anymore- but you did in the 80s and 90s. Check out these liminal spaces.
These are scenes from our childhood. But in our childhood, they were full of life and people. Now they are empty and desolate. Even when we fear our futures may be meaningless, we like to look back and see something bright and full of life. This is not the past we want to remember.
Finally, and perhaps this is a stretch. But the backrooms and many other liminal spaces you can find online do resemble places I have encountered in my childhood. When I was young, these spaces seemed massive, and looking back at them now, much of the magic is gone. Even something as simple as an office building was fresh and unexplored. Now it is dull and mundane. I think these sorts of liminal spaces subvert the memories of the places we interpreted as kids- they are a reality check in this way.
So that’s my take on the backrooms. I think they do a great job exposing our fears an insecurities and might even be useful in determining just how full of meaning our own lives are. There’s only one way to know for sure, start exploring.
Check out my novel!
https://a.co/d/d8gPQ74
More info about my current projects on my website:
mattbwrites.com Many people have seen the "The Backrooms" either on YouTube or somewhere else. Some might wonder what the hype is about, others might find these sorts of concepts disturbing or frightening. Why are liminal spaces like the backrooms frightening?
Transcript:
The Backrooms are better shown than described. This is the backrooms. So is this, and this… onward forever.
They are a basic office space, with basic wallpaper and carpet and no furnishings and they never end. This is the idea behind the backrooms, and this idea has sparked many recreations, from film to video games. it seems pretty boring on its face, why is everyone so into it? And even more curiously, why are so many people afraid of it?
To get into that we are going to have to explain a bit more about the concept behind the backrooms. You see, the backrooms are just one example of a “liminal space”. Liminal spaces are, literally places that are on the threshold of two spaces. These often include corridors and hallways, but the concept can be extended to spaces on the threshold of their usage. That is, spaces that are for some reason out of their element.
Think about perhaps a school at nighttime, or an arcade that’s all turned off. These spaces are on the edge of being familiar and comfortable, but don’t quite make it.
So, the backrooms, as a liminal space, offer us a sense of familiarity, but not enough to put us at ease. But why is this scary?
I think there are at least three reasons that the backrooms would be fear inducing for some. This is not an exhaustive list, but a couple of theories that you can put to the test. Because it actually has more to do with us than it does with the backrooms themselves.
Number one
Let’s think about the demographic of the people interested in concepts like the backrooms. Lots of this stuff is propagated on Reddit, whose user base is largely male and largely between the ages of 20 and 40. So we are talking about millennial males, by and large.
So, what about the backrooms might be scary to a millennial male? I think it’s because the backrooms are what so many of our generation fear- endlessly mundane. Nihilism is rampant in our generation, and with so much entertainment and so little substantive value in our lives, many people are asking what it’s all for. Many are worried that their lives will amount to endless nothingness- empty and without meaning. This is very scary, and the backrooms illustrate this feeling very well.
Here is an experiment worth conducting- track down some people who have found meaning and purpose in their lives. Ask them if they find the backrooms disturbing or scary. My wager is they won’t.
Number two
The backrooms, like many liminal spaces, is rather specific in when it is set. You don’t see office spaces like this anymore- but you did in the 80s and 90s. Check out these liminal spaces.
These are scenes from our childhood. But in our childhood, they were full of life and people. Now they are empty and desolate. Even when we fear our futures may be meaningless, we like to look back and see something bright and full of life. This is not the past we want to remember.
Finally, and perhaps this is a stretch. But the backrooms and many other liminal spaces you can find online do resemble places I have encountered in my childhood. When I was young, these spaces seemed massive, and looking back at them now, much of the magic is gone. Even something as simple as an office building was fresh and unexplored. Now it is dull and mundane. I think these sorts of liminal spaces subvert the memories of the places we interpreted as kids- they are a reality check in this way.
So that’s my take on the backrooms. I think they do a great job exposing our fears an insecurities and might even be useful in determining just how full of meaning our own lives are. There’s only one way to know for sure, start exploring.
