The Backrooms Draws 500,000 TikTok Posts as 2019 Horror Meme Becomes Digital Tourism
Updated
Updated · ScienceDaily · Jul 26
The Backrooms Draws 500,000 TikTok Posts as 2019 Horror Meme Becomes Digital Tourism
2 articles · Updated · ScienceDaily · Jul 26
Summary
Half a million TikTok posts and hundreds of thousands of subreddit members have turned the Backrooms from a single 2019 image into a participatory online destination rather than just a horror story.
Researchers say that appeal comes from users actively building the world through maps, survival guides, videos and games, creating a form of digital tourism centered on mystery, nostalgia and unease.
Kane Parsons’ viral found-footage videos helped push the Backrooms from static meme to immersive environment, and his planned feature film adaptation is carrying it further into the mainstream.
The phenomenon differs from traditional dark tourism because it has no real-world site or historical tragedy; instead, audiences repeatedly visit a collectively imagined landscape that feels uncannily familiar.