Digital culture is reshaping people's experiences of fear, curiosity and belonging, according to new findings from Lancaster University.
Researchers have explored why online environments like the "Backrooms" - mysterious empty spaces resembling uncharted office blocks, basements and corridors - have become so compelling, and why people are choosing to get lost in spaces that don't exist.
Unlike traditional "dark tourism", which focuses on physical sites and historical events, the "Backrooms" represent a new kind of experience that exists entirely online. They emerge from, and circulate through, the darker corners of the internet that are less visible, less regulated, and often more experimental in tone.
The research, co-authored by Dr Sophie James and Professor James Cronin from Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), explains how, in these online spaces, people are not travelling to real locations, but entering shared digital environments that feel immersive, unsettling, and just out of reach.
These worlds are collectively built through a vibrant and highly engaged community of online "legend-trippers" who share videos, stories, diary entries, and creative content, allowing others to explore the uncertainty and unease of the Backrooms in ways that feel meaningful - even without physical presence.
Dr Sophie James, Lecturer in the department of Marketing, said: "Our research shows that people are increasingly drawn to intense emotional experiences in spaces that are not physically real, but still feel vivid and meaningful.
"We describe this as a form of 'para-terrestrial dark tourism': encounters with environments that feel place-like yet sit beyond conventional geography. The term 'para' signals something that exists alongside or beyond the familiar, capturing an interest in spaces that cannot be visited in any traditional sense, and whose form and meaning remain elusive.
"The Backrooms demonstrate how digital culture is transforming what it means to explore and to feel present somewhere, while also raising broader questions about how people engage with risk, ambiguity, and the unknown in digitally mediated worlds.
"Our research is especially timely, given the growing cultural attention around the upcoming Backrooms film, produced by A24, which reflects how these once niche internet imaginaries are moving into the mainstream."
The findings, published in Annals of Tourism Research, suggest that the internet functions as a destination in its own right, revealing how the platforms where online legend-trippers interact become participatory, self-contained spaces rather than simply extensions or simulations of real-world sites.
Recognising this expanded view of dark tourism in online spaces changes the understanding of destination, by moving it from a geographically fixed point to a more malleable, creative and digitally constructed experience.
The findings are detailed in the paper When dark tourism goes para-terrestrial: Online legend-tripping and touring the void.
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2026.104172.
