4 best horror books to read if you love The Backrooms
The Backrooms, a viral internet phenomenon that originated as a 4chan post featuring an unsettling yellow carpeted room, has expanded into new media formats. The concept centers on liminal spaces—abandoned locations like empty malls, vacant grocery stores, and parking lots that evoke an eerie, displaced-in-time atmosphere.
The franchise has successfully evolved across multiple entertainment mediums. Creator Kane Parsons first adapted the concept into a YouTube short film, which generated significant attention and led to the development of a popular procedurally generated indie survival horror video game. Building on this momentum, Parsons has now adapted The Backrooms into a novel, further extending the franchise’s reach.
The article uses The Backrooms as a reference point for recommending horror books that share similar themes of unsettling atmospheres and liminal space aesthetics. The story demonstrates how internet culture and indie creativity can generate multi-platform success, with The Backrooms becoming a notable example of content that transcends its original format to influence broader entertainment and literature.