The Essence of Fear: Backrooms and Reality

I just finished watching the film Backrooms, and felt an impulse to talk about the difference between Western horror and Eastern horror.

First, it must be acknowledged that the concept of Backrooms is exceptionally strong.

It began with a single photograph, spread through social media, and eventually culminated in the K‑version film by Kane Parsons.

A remarkably classic—and genuinely inspiring—success story.

The core of Backrooms’ horror can be expressed in one word:

the unknown.

This level of horror is highly sophisticated. Much like the idea behind Lovecraftian fear, it is—at least to me—far more elevated than the usual slasher villains, vampires, or zombie films.

Its conceptual structure is similar to the “Infinite Anchor Points” in the V‑Universe

【see *The Annals of Void‑Refining: The Demon God Chronicle for details*《煉虛編年史・魔神紀》】.

So then, what about Eastern horror?

Here, I want to recount a true story—

Near the turn of the millennium, in the capital of a certain immensely powerful nation, an incident occurred.

A woman boarded a train with her six‑year‑old daughter.

But she had purchased only one ticket (yes, to save money—or simply to evade the fare).

A station attendant discovered this.

Strangely, in order to make the woman pay the additional fare, the attendant detained the child and ordered the mother to go home and fetch the money.

And the result?

There was no result.

When the woman returned to the station, her daughter was nowhere to be found.

The story ends there.

Some may ask, “Did the mother simply give up?”

I would ask in return—

Isn’t that precisely where the deeper horror lies?

By VON(壹叔瘋神)