“Behind the scenes” in Washington is a 100-year-old military bunker

WASHINGTON, United States — While “Backroom” is an Internet-based urban legend, the feelings they capture exist in real-world places — including Washington.

Youtuber-turned-director Kane Parsons’ first feature film “Backrooms” broke A24 Film Studios’ box office record, grossing $118 million in its opening weekend from May 29 to May 31.

Local theaters were packed: Two days after the movie opened, Seattle’s AMC Pacific Place theater welcomed about 5,000 moviegoers, “about 3,000 more than we expected,” said manager Andrew Coleman.

“Next week, we expect Tuesday and Wednesday to be big days because those are our discount ticket days,” Coleman said. “School also ends early on certain days of the week, so that’s a big driver of traffic.”

The origins of the horror concept come from memes describing the unsettling feeling of being alone in a confined space (usually a transitional area such as a hallway or large room), especially if the space has few defining features and no clear entrance or exit.

In “The Room Behind the Scenes,” that eerie feeling manifests itself in a maze of empty rooms with fluorescent lights, yellow wallpaper, and beige carpets. But this is fiction. The “backroom” in Washington is real.

Western Washington is filled with decommissioned bunkers due to its military and industrial history. Most military buildings are reinforced concrete tunnels that lie entirely or partially underground, used to hide personnel and store state-of-the-art artillery.

Fort Flagler, Fort Worden, and Fort Casey were all built around the mouth of Puget Sound at the turn of the 20th century to defend western Washington cities from potential attacks through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Fort Worden in Port Townsend was the largest, with 6 batteries and a total of 41 guns. Some of the shells found at the site were about 12 inches in diameter, 5 feet long and weighed more than 1,000 pounds, according to Atlas Obscura.

Most have been abandoned and are now protected historic elements in state parks, and many can be visited by the public. With no infrastructure like electricity or ventilation, the tunnels are essentially just that – dark concrete chambers where every sound and movement echoes.

Swipe to see a list of some of Washington’s “backrooms.”