The Backrooms movie is out in the world and it’s a bonafide hit, raking in $262.3 million at the global box office at the time of this writing. That makes it the highest-grossing A24 movie of all time, a feat it achieved on its second weekend in theatres. This isn’t a totally shocking thing if you followed any of the early talk about the film’s potential, and even less so if you were aware of the massive popularity of the Backrooms internet lore.
Young people have Backrooms fever and have had it for a while. Since 2019, to be exact, when the eerie image that originated the phenomenon appeared on 4chan.
The photo, which shows a seemingly innocuous room that looks like it exists in a liminal space, captured the attention of other 4chan users who shared their own unsettling pics. One user responded with the following, which includes the first mention of the name Backrooms:
“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.”
Though the photo was later identified as a room from a HobbyTown USA store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the lore was already established. The Backrooms became a creepypasta legend that inspired young filmmaker Kane Parsons to create a series of YouTube shorts that eventually became the feature film.
While the film somewhat departs from lore established in the creepypasta fandom, it didn’t stop said fandom from continuing to build their own digital Backrooms. This includes a series of “levels”, video-game style, that are part of the intricate and interconnected layers of the Backrooms. These levels are somewhat of a group project, with wikis dedicated to each one which fans regularly expand. Many contain monsters known as “entities”, which gives the project a Lovecraftian feel.
Even though the movie doesn’t really get into the level aspect of the Backrooms, it’s still one of the more fascinating and frightening elements of the whole thing. Here are eight of the freakiest levels from Backrooms lore, with the added caveat that said lore is sometimes different depending on what site or internet community you’re reading. For the sake of ease, I’m sticking to the most popular descriptions of each level, taken mostly from the main Backrooms wiki.
The Broken
Let’s start with one of the more fascinating levels, The Broken. This isn’t a standard level because it technically exists outside of the Backrooms. This kaleidoscopic realm’s description calls it a “fragmented, corrupted expanse” on the wiki, kind of a garbage dump for corrupted levels that now exist collectively in one space. But the space makes no real sense, containing “pieces” of these deleted levels (broken buildings, hallways that bleed into themselves). If you make contact with any of the surfaces, they suddenly turn into horrific caricatures of themselves that pulsate heat.
Believed by some to be the energy source of the Backrooms, it’s perhaps the most incomprehensible non-level level. And that’s exactly what makes it so scary. Imagine colors that look right out of TV static and other nonsensical patterns and dimensionality, and you might be able to picture the Broken. But probably not. What’s more eerie than a space that’s so conceptual you struggle to even describe it?
TH3 SH4DY GR3Y
Another conceptual nightmare (which is saying something for a place that exists within a liminal space), TH3 SH4DY GR3Y is also not a traditional level but a cluster of environments totally drained of color, and only existing in shades and shadows. Similar to the Broken, it appears almost like corrupted files, with glitchy forests that grow more surreal as you wander through. The abstract void of it all makes this another level horrifying in its intangibility.
Welcome to Hell
One of the levels that comes up a lot in online discussions about the scariest Backroom locations is Welcome to Hell, which is appropriately also level 666 (most levels have numbers associated with them). This one is scary because it’s almost entirely psychological, designed to make anyone who enters go insane. It appears as a network of blood-red rooms lit with a harsh red glow, and manipulates perception the deeper you go. This leads to paranoia and hallucinations, as well as a growing feeling of hopelessness. Essentially the mental health subsection of the Backrooms, it also feels similar to one of the Circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno.
Level Fun
Probably the scariest level to me personally, don’t let the title fool you. Unless you’re unbothered by terrifying clowns and other childhood birthday party ephemera. An endless series of hallways and rooms covered in murals of bright cartoon characters that seem innocent enough at first pass until you realize the faces have a sinister element. The Partygoers you might run into, the level’s entities who look like children, also have frightening faces and unsettling vibes. The air is humid and there’s a faint odor that gets worse the farther along you go.
You’ll also find bouncy houses and trampoline parks and messages on the wall attempting to lure you deeper into Level Fun. No thanks! There is already something uncomfortable about the standard childhood birthday parties of youth, with all of the balloons and bright colors. This one also feels somewhat connected to the HobbyTown location in the original photo.
The Island of the Void
If you fear isolation, this level might be especially triggering to you. Level 999, this one is a floating island within a space-like void. Though it slightly resembles a tropical island in shape and fauna, everything presents in greyscale, you arrive into an endless night with no stars or moon in the sky, and no indication of what exists beyond the shore. Basically, in Level 999, you are totally isolated on a small patch of land surrounded by nothingness, with no hope of escape. Eek and also yikes.
Run for Your Life
Another one that’s so simple in construct it seems almost normal—until you really start thinking about how absolutely horrific it would be. Also known as Level !, Run for Your Life is very well-known in Backrooms lore. It’s essentially one long, never-ending hallway illuminated by flashing red lights and blaring alarms. There’s no time to adjust to this level. As soon as you enter, fast entities immediately chase you, and you have no choice but to run. This level resembles an abandoned hospital which adds to the uncomfortable feeling. It sounds like an actual nightmare you might have, running forever, chased by monsters intending to kill you, with no real hope of escape.
Cave System
A somewhat self-explanatory one based on the name, this level is all about being caught in an endless underground cave system. If you’ve seen the movie The Descent and it scared you like it did me, then this is another truly nightmarish realm of the Backrooms. In this one, there are rocky heights and deep burrows, which get increasingly claustrophobic as you navigate them. There are giant spiders and large deadly moths that flock to light. It isn’t a good idea to carry a flashlight through this level, despite the darkness. Flimsy, broken bridges and abandoned settlements dot the Cave System and there are no known exits. Just another reason to never even toy with the idea of stepping into the Backrooms.
Lights Out
I imagine this one will be the freakiest to many and for very good reason. It’s similar to Level 0, the “lobby” of the Backrooms from the original photo, only here the lights are off. In fact, you can’t see anything in this level—it’s entirely dark. It’s also entirely silent and contains no entities, which may sound like a relief, but remember: you have to navigate this one in absolute darkness, with nothing to guide you. The walls are cold and smooth like concrete and as a result of the silence, many who enter experience auditory hallucinations. As someone who has to sleep with a nightlight even as a very grown adult, I don’t even like thinking about this one!
These are just a few of the many, many horrifying levels in Backrooms lore. If you’re interested in learning about others, check out the Levels List on the Backrooms wiki—if you dare.