The Backrooms (also known as The Complex or Hallways by members of Async) is a parallel dimension primarily consisting of ginormous interconnected complexes of segmented and mostly non-unique rooms, halls and or doorways. It does however consist of several unique looking areas, but the largest area borrows the appearance of an empty or unfurnished office building with bright yellow wallpaper, tiled ceilings, and buzzing fluorescent light fixtures.
The Backrooms is dotted with multiple different "Null Zones", which are small areas in which the Backrooms and the “real world” are able to connect. It is possible to fall out of reality and into the Backrooms through these Null Zones within the “real world.” The Backrooms are shown to not abide by the rules of the real world in some cases. Time travel into the future or the past is sometimes shown to be possible, at least inside or near these Null Zones.
History[]
First Contact[]
Async's threshold into the Backrooms.
The Backrooms were discovered and subsequently contacted by the Async Research Institute after years of research. The main reason for accessing them was to serve all storage and residential needs. The foundation first made contact with the dimension during an experiment which successfully opened the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System (Threshold). The successful attempt resulted in an earthquake that happened in October 17, 1989.
Async Exploration[]
Two members of an Async exploration team.
After successfully opening the Threshold, researchers from the Async Research Institute began officially exploring the Backrooms. On November 14th, a group of unnamed researchers are sent to assess and disassemble a ceiling tile to research it’s chemical background, as well as the exact mechanisms and electrical devices that surround it. on November 15th Dr. Julia Meisner talks about the findings from this experiment and mentions some specific codes and dates on the lamp bulbs. The video ends with Julia Meisner talking and her voice fading, and as the camera gets closer to the ceiling, the sound of the fluorescent lamps gets louder.
After successfully opening the Threshold, researchers from the Async Research Institute began exploring the Backrooms. During an expedition on February 29th, 1990, one of the four members of a team got separated from the others when he was suddenly transported forward in time.
Discovery of lifeforms[]
On March 5th, 1990, Async set up motion detection cameras to monitor the complex during the night, and they capture both a strange sound and a creature crawling on the ceiling.
At this point, right behind the entrance, Async starts building a research facility so that their scientists can safely study the Backrooms. Peter Tench, who travelled forward in time, managed to find this facility and access it, but when he shouted for help the alarm went off.
On May 6th, 1990, a researcher named Marvin E. Leigh and his team were mapping out the Backrooms further when they found a room full of pits. Marvin fell into one of the pits and was lured down deeper by the creature imitating the yelling of a human. He managed to get it on camera and escape. The team later showed the footage to the rest of Async and further safety precautions were taken.
Missing Persons[]
A corpse found in the Backrooms.
In the aftermath of the sixth test, the number of global missing persons cases increased substantially as people fell into the Backrooms. One of these missing persons was found dead and covered with a noticeable, and unusual black mold by an Async exploration team on February 3rd, 1990. The body was taken back to a laboratory and an autopsy was performed on it. The corpse had been concluded to have decomposed, but only partially and the doctor had also discovered a mutated strain of a bacteria called hay bacillus inside of it.
Composition and Layout[]
A map of the first area
The topography of the Backrooms varies from area to area, all areas in the Backrooms have a heavy resemblance to areas in the real world. There are many objects created by the Backrooms; these objects vary and sometimes fit in with the area where they are found. Noises with no source can be heard throughout the Backrooms, sometimes distorted and unable to be comprehended. The walls in the Backrooms are distorted in various sections, bending and twisting in unnatural ways. All areas of the Backrooms are in some way seamlessly connected, either by regular doorways and hallways or unorthodox ways such as holes in the floor and walls.
There are "Null Zones" within the Backrooms, which Async theorizes are doorways between the real world and the Backrooms. Null Zones are located everywhere in the Backrooms, it is through Null Zones that things and people fall through when entering the Backrooms. The Threshold created by Async is connected to one.
Hostile Creatures[]
Various living lifeforms have been living in the Backrooms, sometimes stalking and possibly killing unsuspecting victims who have found themselves in the Backrooms. Their motives are not exactly clear, They seem to be hostile due to starting chase whenever someone has become aware of their presence.
Notable Locations[]
Async Area[]
The observation room
Async constructed a small room right behind the Threshold that is safe for humans. The room has large windows overlooking the corridors that can open and close. It also contains a lot of equipment, including computers. It is safe to enter without a hazmat suit and also has several safety precautions, including barricades to keep out the monster and an audio and motion sensing alarm. Of note is the addition of a second shutter which seals off the Threshold at a regular time every day. Connected to the observation room there is a room with a miniature model of the first area of the Backrooms. This was used to present the project.
First Area[]
Arrows in the first area
The first area of the Backrooms is presumably the most common. It is much of the total 600 million square miles the entire Backrooms, and consists of mazes of walls which are lined with yellow wallpaper, surrounded by moist brown carpet, and buzzing fluorescent lights. Area 1 has several anomalies including Bacteria, Pitfalls, and Null Zones. It can be entered via the threshold created by the Async Research Institute, or by falling into the Backrooms via a Null Zone.
Second Area[]
The second area of the Backrooms can be found by going through a hole or a door to it in the first area. It resembles the interior of a more modern office building, apartment complex or gallery. The floor is made of wood or wood-looking concrete and the walls are sometimes white or gray. “Outside” areas usually look akin to an apartment complex with a indoors courtyard. These areas are connected by multiple parallel floors that stretch out for many many miles as seen in Found Footage.
Third Area[]
The third area of the Backrooms can be found by going through a hole from the first area. This area is pitch black. The wallpaper throughout this area has pictures of forests. The wallpaper also has a picture of an old building with forced perspective. Objects are common but distorted.
Fourth Area[]
The fourth area of the Backrooms can be entered via one of the many holes in the Pitfalls. It is very similar to the first area as it has the same carpeting and wallpaper, but with a greener color and dimmer light.
Fifth Area[]
The fifth area of the Backrooms can entered by crawling through a slanted gap in the fourth area. This location is radically different from the other places due to it appearing to be located outside with a visible night sky. Paved roads, houses, fire hydrants, sidewalks, sewer grates, trees, streetlights and many characteristics of a suburban neighborhood are prevalent in this area. The area is surrounded by two dark tunnels. An unknown source of red lights shines from above and a strange alien-like noise can be heard.
Sixth Area[]
The sixth area of the Backrooms is located inside one of the houses in the fifth area. It is surrounded by a brick wall and the walls on the inside are blue. The room has a grey carpet and many inverted street signs stick out of it. Across the room lies a winding corridor that leads to an area similar to the first, but with concrete walls. A person who fell into the Backrooms seemed to have lived here and was killed by the monster.
Seventh Area[]
The seventh area of the Backrooms is similar to the first area but features characteristics similar to a house, objects such as parts of a kitchen, a coffee table with cushioned chairs, and sofas can appear in this area. The area is connected to other areas of the Backrooms via hallways to the first area, along with a door that connects to the second area. This area of the backrooms features painted walls with no wallpaper along with circular ceiling lights.
Eighth Area[]
The eighth area of the Backrooms is connected to a part in the first area, it is an entire house from the real world that has been replicated in the Backrooms however with a general lack of furniture apart from a distorted bed in one room, and a drawer and painting in another. The replicated house features proper wooded floors a faint blue wall and some railing with circular ceiling lights, one additional room has a yellow wall and a single large circular ceiling fan. A dark hallway connected to the yellow room leads to a bedroom with the distorted bed, along with a room with a drawer, a painting of a person, and an instance of Bacteria. The house is likely replicated from the house that appears in Home_27647.mov.
Ninth Area[]
The Ninth Area of the Backrooms is connected to the seventh area of the Backrooms via a broken hole on the floor and to the first area, this area of the Backrooms features characteristics similar to a bathroom or indoor tile pool. The walls, floor, and ceiling are made of ceramic tiles, there are various pools of water that differ in size, metallic beams next to pools of water along with a metallic ladder, some ceiling lights, and a single lamp connected to a hole on the wall. Water droplet sounds are heard in this area from an unknown source. Someone may have lived and/or died here according to the lamp and drops of blood on the floor. This could also explain why some of the tiles had been removed from the wall.
Tenth Area[]
The tenth area of the Backrooms is connected to a dark part of the first area. The floor is made of concrete and the walls are white. Because the lights are off, the area is pitch black and people who come here are forced to use a flashlight if they want to be able to see something. Occasionally a piece of the ceiling can be found that has fallen. Wires hang from the holes where these pieces originally were. The whole area has an ominous atmosphere and occasionally loud mechanical bangs can be heard.
Trivia[]
- There is a video game heavily based on this version of the Backrooms called "The Complex: Found Footage".
- A common misconception is that The Backrooms are infinite, but Backrooms Presentation debunks this by comparing the size of The Backrooms to the size of Earth.
- The music that can be heard in the second area is actually a soundtrack called "Thirteen" from the video game Minecraft.
- The apartment complex with indoors courtyard is actually a real life location called Holiday Inn London Heathrow T4.
- Strangely enough, so far, the term "no-clipping" has never been used officially in the series to mean glitching out of reality.