Level 567 - "Musical Stairs"
5, 6, 7, 8! Music plays. In your stay. Do not stray. Find your way.
Written by: I.C.
Based on interviews, voice recordings, and journal entries of:
Matthew Elias Koeh Hall
"I was trapped in a staircase, with no signs of an exit. The music didn't stop. The same song played over and over again. Almond water's just about ran out. Stuck here, all alone on these never-ending steps. I cried out for help, but no one came to the rescue. What was causing me this torment? Well, I had no idea at the time."
Note: any information of Hall in this article has been given explicit, expressed consent by him to be released and published to the Backrooms Level Archive and the Level 11 Entrance and Exits Database.
Matthew Hall
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Nationality: Canadian
Residence: Level 11
Affiliation/s: none
Preferred MOC: by phone
- Can Be Safe or Unsafe
- Depends On How It Sees You
- One Entity
One possible explanation for Hall's aforementioned rhetorical question is the place itself. Based on all available evidence, it can be said that the entire level is one individual sentient entity. The Level itself seems to be capable of basic cognition, and possesses a consciousness that is aware of any wanderers within. Speaking from experience, Hall has postulated that it also has the ability to access any unsuspecting wanderers' mind and memories. And it uses this for its own objectives and intentions.
Description
Level 567 is a sprawl of countless vertically-extending STAIRS of all kinds: spiral, u-shaped, winder, etc. Each stairwell can greatly vary in length, from a couple flights to a seemingly infinite stretch up and down. It is postulated that almost every possible type of staircase, from varying functional and structural design, to all kinds of architectural styles and builds, from all around the world, from many different time periods, could possibly exist here.
Photograph of a door at the top of a staircase
On the WALLS that enclose each stairwell, there are sometimes shelves and ledges where survival resources such as almond water can appear, of course, until the level decides to not let any appear to the wanderer.
At some areas of a wall there can appear a DOOR, also variable by design, that can lead to another adjacent staircase, or a ROOM that conjoins with multiple other staircases.
The designs of the STAIRS, WALLS, and DOORS seem to tailor itself to the wanderer currently in them. The specific architectural style and aesthetic choices are designed to evoke familiar emotions of a distant memory of one's past. This is something Hall mentioned that made him want to inexplicably linger within, and it helped cause a sensation that drew him into this level in the first place.
Entrance
Seeing that there has only been one willing and cooperative witness of Level 567 thus far (Matthew Hall), there is not yet a clear, defined way to enter. However, the following files document Hall's explanation of how he had stumbled into the level from Level 11:
Phone Call on 15/06/26 (23m04s)
from: I.C. (anon), +0 230 ███ ███
to: Matthew Hall, +0 011 ███ ███
Cellular Provider: The Blue Network
…
01m23s elapsed -
Hall: …well, it's a bit complicated. I didn't even know I left Level 11. It just happened so suddenly. So much so that I didn't even get the chance to write the experience down in my journal. And for your information, I usually write everything in that thing. You know, I can send over copies of some of my entries if that—
I.C.: *interrupts* Matthew, I was asking about the entrance to the level. Please get to the point.
Hall: Ah, sorry, okay, so at that point, I've been at Level 11 for just over an hour. Enough time to get my bearings. I then started to recognize buildings from Toronto, the city I… that… I clipped in from. The uh, architecture and placement of the buildings along the streets were just like I remember in real life. Part of me hoped that I had finally escaped this place and made it back to the Frontrooms, but it's literally impossible for Yonge Street to be this empty at midday, so I figured I was indeed in the infinite city of Level 11, in an uninhabited section of it.
Hall: While walking down the street, I heard music coming from the inside of a restaurant that meant a lot to my parents and I: JOEY's at Dundas Square. The song that was playing was a classical piece: Mozart's Sonata in C, I think. The long, 10-minute one. It was an odd genre choice for this diner, but it was the first musical sounds I had heard in months, so I was drawn to get closer and see where it was coming from.
I.C.: Music huh? Alright, very interesting. *writing sounds*
Hall: Yeah, so the front entrance was locked and wouldn't budge, so I broke in through a window. The music was coming from a back staircase that would supposedly lead you to the washrooms. The sound supposedly came from down the staircase, so I went to the back stairway and started walking down it.
Hall: I immediately noticed that it was taking too long to reach the bottom and the music was not getting louder, and was staying the same volume, which was weird. So then I tried walking back up the way I came, but I could not find the restaurant anymore. The stairs now seemed to extend infinitely up and down, somehow. I concluded that I had likely stumbled into another level by accident. I then immediately started writing on my journal observations of my surroundings.
I.C.: Wait, Matthew, those entries on your notebook would be really helpful for my documentation. Would you be open to meeting somewhere in person sometime so I can get some copies of them?
Hall: Listen, I'm not sure I'm up to meeting you in person, as I can't say I trust you and the organization you work for.
I.C.: I can understand that, Matthew, but you are the one who reached out to get this information documented.
Hall: I just thought it was the right thing to do, alright? Just… tell me an address I can send some copies of my entries in for now. Whatever I send on by, I consent to be released as information for the archives or whatever. I know that's important. But no in-person meetups for now, alright? Out here, you cannot really know who you can trust.
[excerpt end]
Mozart's Sonata no. 10 in C major, K. 330
January 23, 2026 - 9am
I royally slipped up. I seem to have entered another level. The infinite city was supposed to be my safe haven, but here I am. The surroundings seem to resemble a back staircase from JOEY's, but it seemingly has an infinite repetition up and down.
The flights of stairs lead to a landing after 20 or so steps, then continues the opposite direction to another landing, and so on. Nothing that much remarkable about these stairs. They're made of the same stony material. There is a handrail on the wall on each side, and the walls are made of brick, all the same as the one in JOEY.
However this time, there seems to be no end to the stairs. No matter how much I go up and down, I cannot find an end. I must be in one of those infinitely extending levels.
I must not panic. I cannot. I'm writing here to maintain my sanity, and also to document this level. At the moment I am thinking if I continue going downward, I might go deeper into this rabbit hole. I think I will try to continue going up, so I can try to find the restaurant again to lead me back to Level 11. I'll stop writing for a while until I find something significant.
Although side note, the classical music is playing here, nonstop. The same mozart Sonata, over and over again. And the volume doesn't seem to be changing no matter where I am in this staircase, despite the fact I'm moving around a lot. Just wanted to point that out.
Music
Voice Recording on 2026/01/23 - 01:23pm
[footsteps]
[Mozart's Sonata in C playing in the background]
So, it's been [panting] around 4 hours… [breath] of going up these stairs, but so far, nothing. [footsteps stop]
Thank God there has been almond water on the wall shelves sometimes so I can replenish myself. [bottle opening]
[sipping]
There is no way I can go back down now, or this trip up so far would have been for nothing.
And this music is starting to get to my nerves.
I'm starting to get tired, and quite frankly, bored. [sighs]
My phone battery's almost dead as well. I should have charged it in the infinite city.
[footsteps]
Wait…
[music getting ever so slightly louder]
The song… [footsteps]
It's definitely louder than before, now.
[faster footsteps]
I've been noticing a very gradual increase in volume as I have been going up, but now it is clearly louder than in the start. I play piano so my ears are very sensitive to sound. And the voice recorder should capture this now.
[music playing]
Will stop recording for now so I can compare the sound to the audio I recorded at the start.
If that's so, then the source of the sound should be up these stairs somewhere.
[recording end]
The Boomboxes
[ERROR 567] Sorry, unable to hide page. Mind your next choices now. -From, Me
Phone Call on 15/06/26 (23m04s)
from: I.C. (anon), +0 230 ███ ███
to: Matthew Hall, +0 011 ███ ███
Cellular Provider: The Blue Network
…
02m34s elapsed -
Hall: Then I kept going up and up, and the music became louder and louder. After another two hours or so I came upon a door. *pauses to think*
Hall: I didn't go through it just yet though, because the music was now louder than it has ever been, as if the source was somewhere nearby, and it was. Just several steps up from the door was a boombox from the 80s.
I.C.: A boombox. From the 80s? *writing sounds*
Hall: Yes, well I'm not exactly sure. I'm not too familiar with retro stuff, but yes, that's what it looked like. Except that it was way less detail than a real boombox from real life.
Hall; Its design only had the two speakers on the sides, and a few buttons on top. I had no idea what to do next, because the buttons were unlabeled.
I.C.: You did not just press a button right away, did you?
Hall: No, of course not. Well I first recorded the music again to compare with my previous recording. It was significantly louder. Still have no idea how it could have reached that far and still sounding very prominent. At this point I had walked over an hour from my last recording, and over five hours since my arrival and first recording. The level clearly had a part in manipulating the sound.
I.C.: But..?
Hall: Hehe… Although after recording it, I got curious, and pressed a random button. *chuckles*
I.C.: Of course. I would as well, to be honest. *clears throat* And then what happened?
Hall: The music coming from there then suddenly stopped. And right in front of my eyes, the boombox exploded. A different classical piece played, something more personal to me, coming from a different source. It is obvious since the boombox I touched literally exploded. But also, the music playing was back at that baseline volume.
Hall: At this point is is evident that the level was leading me somewhere, maybe to a place I could find the answers, or the way out, or at least I'd hoped. All I had to do was follow the music.
[excerpt end]
The Voices
[ERROR 567] Unable to hide entry. I will be watching you. -From, Me
January 23, 2026 - 3pm
Thank God, finally something! I had successfully stopped that stupid Sonata from playing over and over again. It was getting really annoying like when my mom forced me to play the piano when I was a kid. That wasn't fun, nor is this.
Not a different song is playing and the volume is very low again. This one I really recognize.
Time to find a way out of here. There's a door on the wall nearby, that should lead me closer to wherever this level is taking me.
Peeking through the door is another stairwell, but now like one you'd find in an apartment building.
The Game
RULES
STAIRS
WALLS
ROOMS
DOORS
Exit
The only way to exit is to complete the "Musical Stairs" game. Play by the rules, live by lessons learned, and move on.
To Search
To Fall
To Forward
Footnotes are collapsible below.
[ERROR 567] Unable to hide footnotes. Be good. -From, Me
