5 Comics That Will Creep You Out As Much as Backrooms

Summer has only begun, but it’s already a great time to be a horror fan, especially when it comes to original horror. Two low-budget horror films have been making huge waves at the box office with their unique and chilling tales. One of the two is Backrooms. The film is directed by Kane Parsons in his feature-length directorial debut and adapts his “Backrooms” creepypasta inspired web series of the same name. The film has been a massive box office hit as well as a critical smash as well with its creepy story of a furniture store owner and his therapist as they discover a strange dimension of liminal spaces accessed through said store’s basement.

Backrooms is unsettling, reality-bending, and twisty, offering viewers a disorienting sense of slowly unfolding dread and it makes for a great and intense watch. But what about when the credits roll? While you may have to come back to reality, that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to explore the vibes and fear that Backrooms inspire. That’s where comics come in. There are some great comics that capture that same feeling you get when watching Backrooms. If you loved Backrooms and are looking for something to read to freak you out in the same way, these five options are great. Just maybe don’t read them before bed.

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5) Clean Room

Written by Gail Simone with art by Jon Davis-Hunt, Clean Room is a fantastic horror series from DC’s Vertigo imprint. The story follows journalist Chloe Pierce whose fiancé Phillip started reading a book by cult leader Astrid Mueller and, just a few months later, he was dead. Now, Chloe is investigating Astrid to find out exactly who she is and what’s she’s up to. In the process, she discovers a supernatural conspiracy with demons (literal ones) and a virtual reality “Clean Room” that is supposed to reveal your deepest fear and worst moments but is much, much more sinister. The series is a great read for Backrooms fans because the “Clean Room” is a liminal space, sterile and beyond reality. There’s something full of dread about it and it warps your perception. It’s also a good story overall, full of lore and a lot of terrifying layers.

4) The Nice House on the Lake

From writer James Tynion IV and artist Alvaro Martinez Bueno, The Nice House on the Lake centers around Walter, a mysterious man who invites ten of his friends to come to a beautiful and idyllic house in the countryside. However, what seems like a nice getaway is something far more sinister as the guests witness the end of the world the first night that they’re there and are then not allowed to leave. Oh, and making things even more terrifying? Walter might not be human. The story gives the creepy liminal space vibe in that the guests aren’t able to leave, the architecture of the home, and the slow, creeping feeling of being stuck in a gilded cage. It’s freaky, it’s unsettling, and it gets deeply psychological in a way that sticks with you beyond the end of the first “cycle” because, yes, there’s a second cycle with a new group of people—The Nice House by the Sea.

3) Night of the Ghoul

Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla’s Night of the Ghoul might not be an exact fit for fans of Backrooms in some regards. There really isn’t a physical “liminal space” but there are other elements that make it just as creepy and will have it scratching that same particular horror itch. In Night of the Ghoul, a horror film obsessive discovers what he believes to be a legendary lost film from 1936 called “Night of the Ghoul”. However, this isn’t just a movie. The monster in “Night of the Ghoul” is a very real, very ancient entity that plans to kill him. Night of the Ghoul (the comic) offers up a rich metaphysical horror with its own complex lore. The concept of found footage also is key here, as the film that our obsessive finds is something that was meant to stay uncovered. The comic even has a slight low-fi feel to it even with its incredibly rich art. It’s spooky as all get out, this one.

2) The Unsound

Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole’s The Unsound is a practically perfect read for fans of Backrooms. The story follows Ashli Granger, a nurse on her first day of work at a psychiatric hospital except things descend into a different kind of madness than one might expect given the facility. Ashli finds herself dealing with the horrors of the asylum, which includes strange entities, mysterious patients, and sinister supernatural elements. Ashlie is forced to question her own sanity, reality, and fight for survival and did we mention this is in a psychiatric hospital? The location alone lends itself that that uncanny, liminal space vibe, but the twists and turns that lead Ashli to question reality and her own mind only amplify the creepy vibe.

1) Sub-Mariner: The Depths

Did you expect a Marvel comic on this list? Probably not but trust me when I tell you that Peter Milligan and Esad Ribic’s Sub-Mariner: The Depths is creepy as all get out and it’s great if you loved Backrooms. The Marvel Knights series follows Dr. Randolph Stein, a scientist on a deep-sea expedition to find Atlantis. However, what he and his crew find is anything but. Instead, they find themselves hunted by Namor, the terrifying and vengeful protector of the deep. They also encounter the deep ocean itself and the horrifying psychological toll it takes, causing them to question their own sanity, experience madness, and wonder if Atlantis is even real. It’s the mind bending and questions of reality that really make this a fantastic choice, but there’s also something vaguely unreal about the deep ocean that really sells it.

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