The history of backrooms originates in 2019, in the meanders of 4chan, one of the most important and famous forums on the internet, from the simple request of a user on the /x/ board, characterized by the topics of the paranormal since he wanted to collect images defined as “disturbing” or “strange“.
Among the various anon (editor’s note, an abbreviation for “anonymous user”, one posted a more particular image than the others, unaware of the escalation of events that would be created.
“If you are not careful and glitchy from reality in the wrong areas, you will end up in the backrooms, where there is nothing but the stench of an old damp carpet, the madness of a monotonous yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at most buzzing, and about six hundred million square miles of empty rooms randomly divided to trap you. God save you if you feel something wandering nearby because surely He heard you.”
Anxiety, anguish, the feeling of living in an eternal déjà-vu. These are the emotions described by those who say they have found themselves, at least once in their lives, in a “backroom”: a non-place that can be an empty pool, an abandoned office, indeed infinite liminal places, characterized by an aesthetic as disturbing as paradoxically familiar. There is a disused warehouse, an empty pool, and a monochromatic office with flashing lights. The imagery of backrooms feeds on non-places that evoke a strong sense of uncertainty in those who observe them and is one of the last chilling products of internet folklore, which has taken hold thanks to the numerous speculations of the web communities. The theory of the existence of these rooms was born on 4chan, an imageboard site where users publish content of all kinds anonymously.
But how do you move within a backroom?
Inside the backrooms, scattered objects, such as sanity pills, drinks, phones, or televisions, detached. Still, that work alone and also live there many different creatures that are generated with the same randomness of the offices. Then there are one or more stairs with hatches at the top like a large tower; walking along with them, you get to the next level. Each level is an environment in its own right.
