UNUSUAL – Endless corridors. Yellowed wallpaper, fluorescent lights, and moldy carpet. In 2019, a photo of an anonymous place resembling an abandoned open space was posted on the 4chan forum. It is accompanied by a short caption. “If you slip up and teleport out of reality, you’ll end up in the Backrooms. »
It is from this image that a frightening urban legend of the Internet, which terrifies Gen Z. Through forums or videos, as you can see in our video above, Internet users invent a complete story “Backrooms”. According to them, these “backrooms” of our dimension, as empty as they are distressing, are made up of hundreds of different floors, with sometimes, at the bend of a corridor, an abomination.
To understand what makes them so fascinating, HuffPost questioned Julien Eveillé, creator of the video game distressing Thresholdand Alt 236, creator of content around imagination and art. The latter is also the author of a book on “liminal spaces”, these everyday spaces whose contemplation evokes in us as much nostalgia as unease. One thing led to another and these spaces, of which the Backrooms are a part, have indeed inspired artists, developers and directors – thus opening a new door in the field of horror.
To be seen soon on HuffPost : the other episodes of our series “Scare me in 2024”
➡️ From “Ted the caver” to ARGs, where these viral and creepy urban legends come from
➡️ Le Grand JD, Sylartichot… From YouTube to TikTok, who are the influencers of fear?
➡️ Vampires, zombies and Slenderman, each era has its fear (and trauma)
➡️ ChatGPT, Midjourney… What if artificial intelligence pushed us into horror?