LA’s abandoned mall is perfect place for a ‘Backrooms’ viewing for horror fans

Article excerpt

Puente Hills Mall, the abandoned Southern California shopping center featured in the surprise horror hit "Backrooms," has become a pilgrimage site for fans seeking "liminal experiences", those eerie, in-between spaces that define the film's aesthetic. The movie's unexpected box office success has transformed the decaying mall into an unlikely tourist attraction, with horror enthusiasts drawn to its fluorescent-lit corridors and empty storefronts that perfectly match the film's uncanny atmosphere. What was once a dead retail zone may now find new commercial life as a destination for fans of the genre and those fascinated by the internet's "backrooms" mythology.