The Psychology Behind the Backrooms: How Liminal Spaces Became a Horror Phenomenon
By
Soo Kim
Summary
The article explores the psychological appeal of "liminal spaces" and the Backrooms horror concept, which has evolved from an obscure internet meme into a Hollywood film directed by Kane Parsons and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. Psychologists explain that the unsettling familiarity of empty, mundane spaces like offices and hallways triggers a sense of wrongness and existential dread, tapping into primal fears of isolation, the uncanny, and the unknown. The piece connects the viral phenomenon to deeper psychological principles about how our brains react to environments that are almost normal but subtly off.
Source
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe Backrooms taps into a very specific kind of dread—the feeling that something is deeply wrong in a space that should be familiar and safe.
Liminal spaces are transitional or threshold spaces. They're places of in-between, like hallways, waiting rooms, or empty parking lots. They're not destinations—they're places you pass through.
What makes the Backrooms so effective is that it takes the most mundane, boring environment imaginable and twists it just enough to feel threatening.
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