Level 75

Level 75, otherwise known as ‘the Sandrooms’ or more recently ‘Liminality’, is a complex of corridors and rooms with most of the floor covered by a thick layer of yellow sand.

The walls are coated with blue, cream, and red paint that is cracked and peeling, exposing a layer of plaster or corroded steel. The ceiling supports many light fixtures, all of which are dysfunctional. Despite the lack of artificial lighting, beams of light emanate from arbitrary spots in the ceiling and walls, illuminating a majority of the rooms with a sunlight-like glow.

Travellers’ lips and eyes can get dried out from being here for extended periods, as the air is dry and maintains a constant cool temperature of 15°C. Oddly, in spite of the lack of water anywhere in the level, the sound of rain can be heard perpetually, which is described as soothing to those who visit. This appears to be originating from the ceiling, but it is presumed to be nothing more than a phantom sound. Breaking into the ceiling reveals nothing but an impenetrable layer of voidstone.

Devoid of entities, it is peaceful here. Embedded within the sands, children’s toys can be sporadically found, such as small plastic shovels, sand buckets, toy cars, and dolls. Beyond this and occasional pieces of deteriorated furniture, there are no resources within the Sandrooms.

With no winds or water, markings made in the sand stay for extended periods of time. Much like other levels, rooms within the Sandrooms will periodically regenerate when no one is looking, erasing evidence of human activity, but as it can take decades for this process to occur, imprints from many years ago still remain.

Footprints are frequently seen, with a majority of them being from children’s feet. There is evidence of children playing with patterns made from small hands, dug-up holes, attempts at sandcastles, and toy car tracks.

Level 75 is believed to be among one of the most visited levels in the Backrooms, with a majority of backborns1 visiting at least once.

However, most are unaware or forgotten about the level’s existence. Generally people enter the level accidentally, stay for a few minutes, exit through one of the numerous exits, go to the destination they were originally trying to reach, and later forget about the level.

The Sandrooms was considered of low public interest given it contained no resources and was straightforward to exit with no dangers.

This changed in 2024 when it garnered significant media attention.

An excerpt from an interview with Phoenix Casey, an I.M.B.H. staff member, as reported on the Backrooms News Network.

We have many kinds of visitors who come to our museum, but one of the most common is people who newly entered the Backrooms and come here to learn as much as they can about their new home.

Since 2020, many visitors have told me how they felt the Backrooms was ‘liminal’. I hadn’t heard that term much previously, but it seems recently the Frontroomers2 have been saying it so much that we’ve started adopting the term into our own vocabulary with things like “liminal echo”.

When visitors say 'liminal spaces', they mean the spaces that appear eerie and abandoned, often with surreal architecture. The spaces are frequently described as invoking feelings of nostalgia, sometimes even comfort. A self-described liminal space fan, who I will call Bob, stated that while he was living in the Frontrooms, he enjoyed watching videos that showed liminal space images that were accompanied by an unusual genre music called ‘dreamcore’ or ‘weirdcore’.

I found this very weird. How could you look at a picture like this:

And think, ‘This is nostalgic.’ When I look at it, I think ‘Oh my, how many entities are hiding here!?’

I had a meeting with The B.N.T.G. at the Traders Vault to renew a food import contract between them and the I.M.B.H. I brought my daughter along, as she was excited to visit Level 1. She stayed with her uncle, who has been living in Base Alpha since he left the I.M.B.H.

When we were returned to Level 216 through the door in the Hub, instead of ending up in the museum, we arrived in some sandy corridor. I was incredibly confused, but at the same time, it felt like this exact same thing had happened before.

“Mummy, did we find a new level?” my daughter asked, and I told her, “Maybe, but it feels like I’ve been here before.”

As I looked through the rooms, happy childhood memories came to my mind. The empty rooms with nothing but the sound of rain calmed me, and looking at the sky blue and white cracked paint was bizarrely comforting.

Is this what Frontroomers call a liminal space?

I took photographs of the rooms while my daughter enjoyed playing with toys in the sand.

When I re-entered Level 216, I found the level mentioned in a couple paragraph entry in the General Public Database. I thought it was strange that it was the first time I’ve learnt about this level, especially how comforting it is.

I wondered if other people would find this level ‘liminal’. So I decided to make one of those ‘liminal space’ videos. After speaking to Bob, I was able to get some weirdcore and dreamcore music that he had downloaded on his phone before he entered the Backrooms. I assembled all the photographs into a one-hour slide show, adding the music Bob gave, along with sufficiently “dream-like” phantom music from Level 233 and Level 707.

I posted the video on BackTube3 and to my happy surprise, it went viral.

This video has such a vibe, dare I say liminal. I can understand why frontroomers rave on about liminality.

This playlist is great, all songs are perfect!! Listening to this while studying for my entity biology exam

When I lived in the Frontrooms, I loved listening to this type of music while looking at liminal space photos. I imagined myself living in liminal spaces… I guess I got what I wished for…

Something deep happened within me when I heard this music. I finally cleaned my apartment in Level 13. I am a changed person. Thank you

When I saw the icon for this video, I thought ‘this place looks so familiar’. When I started watching this, I kept on feeling, nostalgic? Like I had spent my childhood runny around these sandy floors. The pictures kinda looked like Level 229 but I never had been there?
Looking at the video description, these photos are from Level 75. This is my first time hearing about this level, but apparently most people have visited it. Strange that I only have a vague childhood memory of it.

Too many of us are struggling to survive, but it is strange how it always feels like we’re the only ones going through it.
I am sending all of you love and good wishes. Deep down inside you have the strength and courage to take on whatever life throws at you.

this brings back so many memories. just after finishing a semester of school my twin and i were going to level 40 for the first time to go to a party. following the travel instructions, we climbed through a broken window in level 25. instead of arriving in another arcade, we landed head first into sand. i don’t remember them telling me that level 40 was filled with sandy corridors? we walked around. while the rain was calming we had no idea where we were and if we were about to get attacked. we were freaking out but after going through a doorway we arrived right at the party. we were then telling all our friends how we had discovered a whole new level. good times.
it has been five years since my brother was impaled by a frost bore. i will never forget you bro 😭💔

Ah the Sandrooms. First time I have heard about it in decades. I am a bit old now to running from entities, but it was a good rest stop between my adventures across levels in my youth.

While you read through the comments, I just want to let you know whatever difficulties you are facing right now will pass. Every challenge makes you more resilient. Let us celebrate the chaos of life!

I received many comments and emails expressing how they were reminded of their childhood and how this video felt liminal, but one email that made my day was sent from a former Aiding Straggler member.

Dear Phoenix,
I am Darren Joubert, a M.E.G. operative who was a former member of the Aiding Stragglers.

I was born in Level 2. Through my young childhood, Levels 1, 2, and 4 were the only places I got to see. I was not allowed to go to Levels 3, 5, or 6 until I was older, as they were too dangerous. Any places beyond that were too hard to reach.

When I was six, my family took me to Level 1 to collect supplies, but when we went through the doorway to Level 1, instead of ending up in the concrete warehouse, we arrived in these very strange dilapidated rooms with this strange flooring.

It was cold and I got scared. My feet would sink into the floor. This was not like the carpet or concrete I was used to.

“It’s sand!” my family told me. “When you get lucky, sometimes you are sent to this World. It is full of sand.”

I was so excited. I heard about the existence of sand in the Frontrooms and how you could dig. I spent the next couple of hours digging holes and playing with sand. I was so happy. This was the first time in my life I ever got any kind of dirt in my fingernails.

My family stayed with me in the Level, and they showed me how to draw patterns in the sand. We searched through the sand for toys.

This is one of my most cherished memories, and I even have some of the cars I collected from the Sandrooms to this day, but I hadn’t heard this place mentioned in years. I am grateful you made this video to help me and many others relive good times.

After seeing your video, by some stroke of good fortune, our family got the opportunity to visit the level once more.

We had a family reunion in Level 2, visiting what was left of our abandoned outpost. When we left to go back to Level 1, to our delight, we were transported to the Sandrooms instead.

While he cried tears of joy, this is what my father told us:
“Ever since I fell through the floor and landed on that yellow carpet, life has been hard work. We spent our days scavenging through hallways, grabbing whatever food and water we could get our hands on, with danger lurking at every corner.

But between the hardship, there were many moments of happiness. I met my wife in the Backrooms, and we had two beautiful children.

Joy can arrive when you least expect it. Even on our darkest days, the Sandrooms would find us to let us enjoy the simple things of life, such as the feeling of sand, the sound of rain, or toys to play with.

As time has progressed, and the Backrooms got explored, many safe passages between worlds had been established. In comparison to many newly discovered levels, the Sandrooms may not seem that special, but we won’t forget how special it is to us.

Don’t let the good things in life go uncelebrated.”

Kind regards,
Darren Joubert

While the Sandrooms may be appealing to a child, if the child is with an adult, they usually would not be there long either, as the location is of almost no interest to more experienced individuals.

The place gets mostly forgotten about once someone becomes an adult, but positive associations with the level may still linger subconsciously. Even if someone had no joyful experiences in Sandrooms, they may still associate the Sandrooms with other positive experiences of visiting other levels, as the Sandrooms is generally encountered when someone is traversing between levels.

With the growing portion of people who grew up in the Backrooms instead of the Frontrooms, Phoenix Casey's video likely appealed to many people, as it helped them remember vague but happy childhood memories or even just the feeling from those memories.

As Phoenix Casey referred to Level 75 as ‘Liminality’ in her video, Level 75 is generally nicknamed ‘Liminality’ instead of 'the Sandrooms’.

An Anonymous Capital Civilian

As I write this message, I am with my children right now in the Sandrooms. Yes, I got places to be, but I don't know when they will next get an opportunity to come again, if ever. I want to let them have the joy of playing in the sand. Something that gives them good memories for when they are older.

Given how unreliable it is to enter this level, the ease to exit the level, and the lack of useful resources such as food, water, and electricity, no bases, outposts, or communities exist on this level.

When going through an entrance to any level, there is a small chance of going to the Sandrooms instead. The probability of this occurring decreases with one's age. When travelling in groups, the probability appears to be based on the group’s average age.

Entering a door in a room with no sand on the floor or climbing through a window will send the wanderer to the level they would have entered originally before being diverted to the Sandrooms.