A24 horror film 'Backrooms' has ties to Oshkosh hobby store

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]JEFFERSON STREET AND WISCONSIN AVENUE IN DOWNTOWN MILWAUKEE.

[00:00:05]THE.

[00:00:06]A 24 MOVIE, BACK ROOMS HITS THEATERS TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY.

[00:00:10]>> AND AS MANY THINGS IN LIFE, THE HORROR FILM HAS TIES TO WISCONSIN.

[00:00:15]>> IT’S LIKE A MAZE.

[00:00:17]IT JUST GOES ON AND ON.

[00:00:19]SOMETIMES I’M SCARED I’LL GET LOST.

[00:00:21]>> CAN YOU HEAR ME?

[00:00:23]>> SO THE FILM FOLLOWS A STORY OF SOMEONE DISAPPEARING INTO A DIMENSION BEYOND REALITY.

[00:00:28]BUT IT ACTUALLY STARTED WITH AN INTERNET MEME, A SEEMINGLY NORMAL PHOTO TAKEN ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE OLD HOBBYTOWN IN DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH.

[00:00:36]THE POPULAR PHOTO WAS TAKEN BACK IN 2003, BUT AS ANNA MURPHY POLK WITH DISCOVER OSHKOSH DESCRIBES IT, IT WASN’T UNTIL THE INTERNET DISCOVERED IT AND GAVE IT A LIFE OF ITS OWN.

[00:00:47]NEARLY 16 YEARS LATER.

[00:00:49]>> IN 2019, AND WAS KIND OF TAKEN OVER WITH THIS LIMINAL SPACE CONCEPT.

[00:00:56]SO SOMEBODY TOOK IT OVER AND BASICALLY DESCRIBED THIS THIS PHOTO AS THE QUOTE UNQUOTE BACK ROOM.

[00:01:04]SO THEY SAW THIS PHOTO AND THOUGHT TO BE THIS CREEPY FLUORESCENT LIGHT.

[00:01:10]CARPETING, KIND OF NEVER ENDING SPACE FROM THE PHOTO.

[00:01:13]SO IT WAS TAKEN OVER.

[00:01:15]>> AND NOW YOU HAVE BACK ROOMS.

[00:01:17]THE STORE IS NOW HOME TO JOHN’S HOBBIES TO PROMOTE THE FILM, A 24 SHARE TWO BILLBOARDS, ONE IN NEW YORK AND THIS ONE IN DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH.

[00:01:23]THE BILLBOARD CAN BE FOUND ON THE CORNER OF PAR