Unlike the SCP Foundation, there are multiple independent websites about the Backrooms. This “article” (I’m not quite sure what this is going to be, but it will probably be more of a reference sheet than anything) will attempt to track the Backrooms over time. THis will not be a complete history, but simply an attempt to track the various hubs of the Backrroms community and how they fit together. It is my hope that such a reference sheet will make tracking the history of the Backrooms much easier.

On May 12, 2019 at 9:37 AM,

an anonymous 4chan contributor posted an “unsettling images” thread which contained the image to the right. In the initial post, the anon shared the image to the right and told their fellow anons to:^[1]/x/ – Paranormal » Thread #22661164 (4plebs.org) (archive)

post disquieting images that just feel “off”

For the next several hours, anons posted a variety of creepy images and discussed the merits of those images. At 4:35 PM, swedishshepard  asked “what is that?” in response to the original image.^[2]/x/ – Paranormal » Thread #22661164 (4plebs.org) (archive), post # 22662579 In the subsequent psot, an anon stated “looks like an office building gutted of all furniture and cubicles.” In the very next post, made at 5:07 PM, another anon posted the following in response to swedishshepard:^[3]/x/ – Paranormal » Thread #22661164 (4plebs.org) (archive), post # 22662718

If you’re not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you’ll end up in the Backrooms, where it’s nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in

God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you

A scattered handful of approving comments were made in the early hours of May 13, but almost all subsequent comments addressed unrelated images. The last comment in the thread was made on May 14 at 3:36 AM.

On May 14, 2019 at 9:29 PM, another anon created a standalone thread stating:^[4]/x/ – Paranormal » Thread #22672919 (4plebs.org) (archive)

Can anybody redpill me on the Backrooms? Saw this on a previous thread and it’s got me intrigued.

The anon’s post also contained an image of the yellow room and the Backrooms story from the prior thread.

The final post was made to the thread on May 17 at 12:57 AM.^[5]/x/ – Paranormal » Thread #22672919 (4plebs.org) (archive), post # 22683512.

On May 16, 2019, the above image was reposted on the subreddit “greentext” where it recieved about 1,000 comments and over 33-thousand net upvotes.^[6]Worse than any creepypasta out there : greentext (reddit.com) (archive)

On May 19, a story about the Backrooms was posted to the nosleep subreddit. It received 1.6 thousand upvotes.^[7]The Backrooms : nosleep (reddit.com) (archive)

On May 17, 2019, r/backrooms was created by FootFlat.^[8]backrooms (reddit.com) (archive) The next day, r/TheBackrooms was also created.^[9]The Backrooms (reddit.com) (archive) r/TheBackrooms merged into r/backrooms on approximately July 16, 2019.^[10]Merging with r/backrooms : TheBackrooms (archive.org) The two subreddit split on August 26, 2020 due to disagreements regarding the conduct of the owner of r/backrooms.^[11]Why This Sub Is Reopened, and What’s Happening With r/backrooms : TheBackrooms (reddit.com) (archive)  

On Mat 29, 2019, a third subreddit (r/TrueBackrooms) was created. Unlike the other subreddits, this subreddit focuses solely on the original room aspect of the original 4chan post; it deliberately excludes the entities and overarching mythos developed by other Backroom communities.^[12]True Backrooms: You are alone. (reddit.com) (archive)

Claykid12345 posted another story about the Backrooms to the Creepypasta Wiki on May 17, 2019.^[13]The Backrooms | Creepypasta Wiki | Fandom (archive)

r/backrooms was created on May 17, 2019 by FootFlat and quickly became one of the largest Backroom communities. On June 5, 2019, the subreddit jumped from a mere 673 members to 17.1 thousand members in less than nineteen hours .^[14]Compare thebackrooms (archive.org) to thebackrooms (archive.org)

A Discord server was created for the community on June 5, 2019.^[15]Discord Screenshot doc., “Discord creation date”

 

The fandom website was created on June 2, 2019 at 3:15 PM.^[16]Backrooms Wiki | Fandom (archive) Fandom wikis such as the Backrooms website are creating by submitting a “creation form”; if approved, Fandom will create the website.^[17]Help:Start a new community | Community Central | Fandom (archive) With the Backrooms wiki, a Fandom editor named Cicicicity appears to have been the requestor responsible for the website’s creation. ^[18]Message Wall:Cicicicity | Backrooms Wiki | Fandom (archive) Cicicicity did not make a single edit the the Backrooms wiki; the wiki was effectively abandoned from creation.

Back on the r/backrooms Discord, discussions about the need for a Backrooms wiki started on June 7, 2019.^[19]Discord Screenshot doc., “We need a wiki”. On that same day, a post made on the main subreddit arguing that a wiki was needed to better organize the lore of the Backrooms and prevent contradictions.^[20]We need a wiki : backrooms (reddit.com) (archive) On June 8, a link to the Fandom website was posted in the backrooms Discord.^[21]Discord Screenshot doc., “Fandom link”. See also backrooms (archive.org) As a result of these links, the temporarily abandoned Fandom wiki started gaining members beyond Cicicicity and Fandom staff.^[22]User list | Backrooms Wiki | Fandom. See also Discord Screenshot doc., “Fandom users by last edit”

The wiki had no active admins from at least June 8 to July 31, 2019.^[23]June 8: Message Wall:Deveyerr | Backrooms Wiki | Fandom (archive); July 31: Message Wall:DoctorJulianSesame | Backrooms Wiki | Fandom (archive) This conclusion is based off messages left by Fandom on user talk pages which routinely mentioned the wiki’s lack of admin’s its unclear if anyone actually joined the Wiki before June 8. The Fandom message stopped referencing the lack of mods on August 1, 2019.^[24]Message Wall:Yoshifan33 | Backrooms Wiki | Fandom (archive)

In terms of official communications, there were none in the early history of the fandom wiki. The first ever blog post on the wiki consisted of a normal member asking the following on June 12, 2019:^[25]https://backrooms.fandom.com/f/p/3100000000000000179 (archive)

is there a way to manually go to the backrooms?

i don’t really WANT to go there, but i want to know how in case anybody wants to.

This was followed up a day later by someone asking if the Backrooms are real.^[26]Question~ | Fandom (archive) Over the next few months, there would be a lot of roleplaying and some discussion about the Backrooms, but no messages from any mods.^[27]Discuss Everything About Backrooms Wiki | FANDOM (archive.org)

 

The Wikidot wiki was created on March 28, 2020.^[28]The Backrooms Wiki – The Backrooms (wikidot.com); Wayback Machine (archive.org) On April 3, 2020, AndrewW99 announced the new wiki on the older fandom website. Regarding the necessity of the new wiki, AndrewW99 stated:^[29]New Backrooms Wiki Up! | Fandom (archive)

We wanted to do this because there is much untapped potential, much like the SCP wiki in its early and EditThis days, in the Backrooms and its wiki. At the minute, through no fault of this wiki, its admins, and its dedicated contributors, has or will soon hit a ceiling with content and quality: mainly the confines of Wikia (Fandom llc) as a host.

AndrewW99 stated that the Wikia website was meant to replace the Fandom website, but in practice the older Fandom website remained active.