The Backrooms are a fictional location originating from a 2019 4chan thread. They are usually portrayed as an impossibly large extradimensional expanse of empty rooms, accessed by exiting reality.
๐ Origin
Between 2011 and 2018, a photograph of a large, carpeted room with fluorescent lights and pale yellow dividing walls circulated on various message boards. On May 12, 2019, an anonymous user started a thread on 4chan’s paranormal-themed board, accompanying the thread with the photograph. Another user replied, giving the image its name and supplying the first description of the Backrooms.
๐ Fandom Growth
Days after the original creepypasta, users began to share stories about the Backrooms on subreddits such as r/creepypasta and later r/backrooms. A fandom began to develop, and creators expanded upon the original iteration by creating additional floors or “levels” and “entities”. By March 2022, r/backrooms had over 157,000 members.
๐ธ Real Image Source
Until 2024, the source of the original Backrooms image was not widely known. In May 2024, a Twitter user announced that their friend had discovered the image’s origin. The image was found to have been taken during the renovation of a former furniture store in Wisconsin. The image was captioned as an original view of “the East (Oval) room”.
๐ฌ Kane Parsons Films
In January 2022, a short horror film titled “The Backrooms (Found Footage)” was uploaded to YouTube by then-16-year-old Kane Parsons. The video has over 78 million views as of May 2026. The series has collectively garnered over 197 million views. On February 6, 2023, A24 announced a film adaptation based on Parsons’ videos, with Parsons directing.
๐ฎ Video Game Adaptations
The Backrooms have been adapted into numerous video games. An indie game was released by Pie on a Plate Productions two months after the original creepypasta. Co-op multiplayer Escape the Backrooms by Fancy Games was praised by Bloody Disgusting for its depiction of the extended lore.
| Year | Event | Platform/Medium | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Original 4chan thread | 4chan | First description of Backrooms |
| 2022 | Kane Parsons’ first short film | YouTube | Over 78 million views |
| 2024 | Original image source discovered | Discord/Twitter | Traced to Wisconsin furniture store |
| 2026 | A24 film release | Theatrical | Directed by Kane Parsons |