As someone who is usually late to the party when it comes to popular media, I only just discovered the world of the Backrooms a few weeks ago. I've enjoyed everything from the liminal imagery to the psychological horror and all of the collaborative efforts from the community to give it an interesting lore.
I wanted to talk about realism in unreal spaces, and the perspectives real people thrust into them might have.
In a place of unreality, where transportation between realms is as common as the mysterious objects that randomly appear within them, where eldritch horrors lurk in the shadows of dark corners-even the corners of the mind-how would you and I really react to situations that take place there?
If one day, a space which seemed safe and secure suddenly changes form, revealing its nature as something more enigmatic, would we really be surprised? Surely If we were newcomers to this place, shock and awe would be normal responses.
What about the inhabitants who have lived there for months or years? What about the operatives of a paramilitary group like the MEG? If you put yourself in the shoes of someone who has seen everything from shapeshifting monsters to infinite rooms that can reorganize themselves at random, would you really be surprised if you saw something else that didn't line up with how things work in normal reality?
In a lot of Backrooms lore, I see dialogue and reports that show expressions of surprise inconsistent with what I personally would expect to see. Every time I read, "Wait… that can't be right-" or "This is so strange, it normally doesn't-" or "How can this be??" it breaks the world immersion for me. What we have here are characters who live within a world of unreality. Nothing about it is normal, nothing behaves as expected. Anything could change at any moment and it would be just as 'normal' as finding a bottle of almond water manifesting out of thin air.
It's my belief that a character who lives in such a place would more realistically follow one of a few development arcs.
- Upon first arriving in the Backrooms, a more fragile mind would begin descending into madness. Either quickly or slowly, in hours or weeks, their mind would simply reject the information it's being fed about their new surroundings, and it would render itself catatonic or psychotic.
- A stronger psyche may be able to cope with this new unreality. They may never truly find peace with it, or thrive therein; but they could function and carve out some kind of life there.
- Best case scenario-perhaps someone who was very young upon entering, or was born there-a person could fully adapt to their new life in the Backrooms and readily embrace its features. Some may even find it favorable over their old world.
I believe one of those three outcomes would be most probable for any normal person going through that experience. Outliers would exist in some number but be rather few.
If we roll with that, how could we write more natural characters who respond according to an accepted disposition? Off the top of my head I would answer like so:
- Characters who follow the descent into madness would respond fearfully or erratically to their environment. They should be written with the mindset of those who feel deeply troubled, lost, hopeless, unable to cope, and unable to come to terms with all they see.
- Those who can cope and adapt well enough to survive could be written in any number of ways, though an underlying struggle should be noticeable. These aren't people who are living their best lives. They are managing to get by, but constantly live with the brutal awareness of their entrapment, and precarious stability in this place.
- Characters who thrive may be more optimistic, but nonetheless not surprised by all they see. Even the happiest of persons would be cognizant of the rules of their world, which are ever changing, subject to bend and break, and can only be relied upon for as long as they remain in one state.
I do believe there is still immense room for varying personalities and character arcs that fit within the parameters of how the average person would behave in the Backrooms.
To write characters that feel more real, would serve as a greater contrast against the backdrop of unreality they exist in, and I believe this is useful for writing better horror.
This is all just my perspective of course. I welcome discussion and other perspectives on this.
Sweet is the hour when the world lays to rest.