'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic

The rise of the 'Backrooms' genre highlights how modern digital culture and nostalgia are transforming horror into a reflection of contemporary societal anxieties, particularly around bureaucracy and corporate life. This shift underscores the growing influence of internet folklore and aesthetic trends in shaping entertainment and cultural narratives, resonating with consumers' feelings of disorientation and dread in everyday life.

• 'Backrooms' blends internet folklore, Gothic themes, and nostalgia to create a new horror genre.
• The concept embodies modern societal feelings of disorientation and dread, especially within corporate environments.
• Liminality as an aesthetic reflects the transitional, in-between spaces that define contemporary digital and physical experiences.