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| The Backrooms |
The hum is the first thing you notice.
It’s constant, low, and just loud enough to make your teeth ache.
Your shoes stick faintly to the stained carpet as you step forward, the walls around you fading into the same dull shade of nicotine yellow no matter which way you turn.
You don’t remember how you got here.
One moment you were at work, walking down a familiar hallway… and then you slipped, like falling between the cracks of reality itself.
They say if you noclip out of the real world, this is where you end up — The Backrooms. A place outside of time and logic, where buzzing lights never flicker off, the smell of damp mold clings to the air, and something unseen follows you… always a few steps behind.
This unsettling experience is what countless internet users have come to know as The Backrooms.
ORIGINS OF THE BACKROOMS LEGEND
The Backrooms began not as an old folktale, but as an unsettling internet phenomenon. In May 2019, an anonymous user posted a grainy photo on the imageboard 4chan. The picture showed a yellowish, empty office space with stained carpeting, humming fluorescent lights, and an eerie lack of doors or windows.
The post read:
"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."
From there, the legend spread quickly. Social media users, YouTubers, and horror writers began expanding on the idea, describing levels, hostile entities, and strange rules for survival. The Backrooms became part of modern digital folklore, with roots in “liminal space” photography — images of empty, in-between places that feel unnervingly familiar yet wrong.
WHAT ARE THE BACKROOMS?
The Backrooms are often described as a hidden dimension — a glitch in reality where people can accidentally slip in and become trapped. Entry can happen anywhere: a wrong turn in a mall, stepping into the wrong elevator, or simply “falling” through the floor of the world you know.
Once inside, you’re surrounded by:
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Endless Yellow Rooms — Dull, faded wallpaper, cheap carpeting, and buzzing fluorescent lights.
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Damp Moldy Smell — As if the carpet has soaked up decades of stagnant water.
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No Natural Light — Illumination comes only from flickering ceiling panels.
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Uncanny Silence — Broken only by the electrical hum… unless something else is there with you.
The most disturbing feature? No matter which direction you go, the rooms keep repeating, looping endlessly. It’s a maze with no center, no exit — at least not one most people find.
LEVELS OF THE BACKROOMS
While the original post only hinted at one endless yellow level, fan expansions and creepypastas have introduced dozens of different “levels,” each more bizarre and dangerous than the last. The most well-known include:
Level 0 – The Lobby
This is the iconic yellow maze most people picture when they think of the Backrooms. The wallpaper peels, the carpet squelches, and the lights buzz overhead. Distances and layouts change when you’re not looking, and there are no doors to the outside world.
Dangers: Psychological stress, dehydration, disorientation… and rumors of “Hounds” — humanoid creatures with too-long limbs and a mouth full of teeth.
Level 1 – The Warehouse
A massive, dimly lit concrete space with exposed pipes, puddles of water, and the distant sound of machinery.
Supplies sometimes appear here — crates of food, bottled water, and tools — though they may be booby-trapped or laced with something dangerous.
Dangers: Aggressive entities known as “Skin-Stealers” (humanoids wearing the skin of their victims), shifting floor layouts, and extreme cold.
Level 2 – The Maintenance Tunnels
Narrow, oppressive corridors with boiling-hot steam pipes lining the walls. The air smells of rust and oil. You can hear the faint clang of metal… but you can’t tell if it’s the pipes or something walking toward you.
Dangers: Heat exhaustion, burns, and encounters with faceless maintenance workers who attack without warning.
ENTITIES THAT LURK IN THE BACKROOMS
Many versions of the legend include hostile entities. Some are outright monstrous, while others look human but behave unnervingly.
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Hounds — Tall, skeletal humanoids that run on all fours, with sharp teeth and no visible eyes.
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Facelings — Human-shaped figures with smooth, featureless faces. Some are harmless… others are not.
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Skin-Stealers — Creatures that kill humans and wear their skin like clothing, blending in until it’s too late.
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Smilers — Floating, glowing grins in the darkness, attached to something you can’t fully see.
Not all entities are hostile — there are whispers of wandering traders or groups of survivors who’ve adapted to life in the Backrooms. But trust is dangerous here.
HOW TO SURVIVE THE BACKROOMS
According to those who claim to have “been there” (and lived to tell about it), survival depends on a few critical rules:
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Stay Calm and Quiet — Panic leads to poor decisions and draws unwanted attention.
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Always Keep Moving — Standing still too long can make the rooms shift around you, trapping you.
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Mark Your Path — Use chalk, string, or anything to track where you’ve been — though the layout may still change.
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Conserve Supplies — You never know how long you’ll be here.
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Avoid Strange Noises — If you hear something moving, take another route.
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Look for Level Transitions — Stairs, elevators, or changes in architecture may lead to another level… or to an exit.
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Never Trust Anyone Too Quickly — That friendly face might not be human.
WHY THE BACKROOMS FEEL SO UNSETTLING
Part of the horror comes from the concept of liminal spaces — transitional or “in-between” places (like hallways, waiting rooms, or stairwells) that feel both familiar and strange. They evoke a sense of nostalgia mixed with unease.
The Backrooms take that feeling and stretch it to infinity, removing the comfort of an “outside world.” There’s no day or night, no windows or clocks — just endless repetition. The human brain craves landmarks and variation, and when it can’t find them, paranoia sets in.
SIMILAR LEGENDS AND CONCEPTS
The Backrooms might be a modern digital creation, but the idea of slipping into another reality is far older.
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Fairy Rings (European Folklore) — Circles of mushrooms believed to transport people to the fairy realm if they step inside.
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The Endless Highway — A rumored road that stretches on forever, trapping travelers until they die or disappear.
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Japanese “Kisaragi Station” — An urban legend about a mysterious train stop that doesn’t exist on any map, from which passengers never return.
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Shadow Realms — Stories in multiple cultures describe entire dimensions overlapping our own, often inhabited by dangerous spirits.
THE BACKROOMS IN POP CULTURE
Since 2019, the Backrooms have appeared in short films, video games, and creepypasta collections. The most famous adaptation is Kane Pixels’ YouTube series, which presents found-footage-style videos of researchers exploring and being hunted within the Backrooms.
The aesthetic has also seeped into video games like Garry’s Mod, Minecraft, and Roblox, where fans create their own versions of the maze for others to explore (and escape from).
FINAL WARNING
Whether you see the Backrooms as an internet myth, a psychological metaphor, or a real hidden dimension, one thing is clear — it’s a place where you don’t want to linger.
So the next time you’re walking down a familiar hallway and notice the walls look slightly too yellow, the hum of the lights just a bit too loud… maybe turn around. Because once you noclip out of reality, you might never find your way back.
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