I’ve thought about this a bit but not super in-depth. I think you’re right about the fear and anxiety about public spaces. I would also throw in some other theories, such as the Freudian uncanny, where something is off about a familiar space that causes dread, and a desire to correct what’s off-putting. Imagine ANY contained space that you’re unable to escape; surely any bland office floor you’re on must have an exit and a staircase–now imagine that it doesn’t. Another writer, Roland Barthes, talked about young people really enjoying building forts and being in boats, what I’ve seen elsewhere described as “amniotic tranquility,” where something is storming or thrashing outside of your contained, safe space. The backrooms seems like an inversion of amniotic tranquility, where the protective fort is suddenly what you need to escape from. Hence the fascination on some subconscious level.
What’s going on with personal identity and the optics of socialism? By that I mean: Zohran is crushing it with college-educated white men, according to the polls. Meanwhile, Establishment Dem Cuomo has won majority support from women, people of color, and old folks. I know socialism is rarified and academic, so for that reason it has a white stigma. I don’t live in NY, but I wonder what DSA is doing to reverse that. Any other explanations for why the polls are shaking out this way? How are women supporting Cuomo despite his sexual harassment resignation, or old people after the 2020 nursing home scandal? Or is it as simple as Dem propaganda, powerful business interests, media bias, etc.