Hey there! I’ve been away for an insane amount of time, ofc I know nobody actually checks here routinely to look for anything new, so I don’t think anyone minds lol. I got into a conversation with my dad recently about liminal spaces and how much I love them, and he didn’t really understand what I was talking about! So, that made me wonder. Are they not as well known as I’d thought?
The “history” of liminal space
In my opinion, there are a few liminal space categories. Creepy, pools (yes, swimming pools), eerie, nostalgic, transitory, and random. Creepy was kinda the first. It all started with “the backrooms”.
According to Wikipedia: “Images depicting liminal spaces gained popularity in 2019 when a short creepypasta of unknown origin was posted on 4chan and went viral. The creepypasta showed an image exemplifying a liminal space—a hallway with yellow carpets and wallpaper—with a caption purporting that by “noclipping out of bounds in real life”, one may enter the Backrooms, an empty wasteland of corridors with nothing but “the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in”. Liminal space images soon gained popularity across the Internet, and by November 2022, a subreddit called /r/LiminalSpace had over 500,000 members, the liminal space photo-posting @SpaceLiminalBot on Twitter had accrued over 1.2 million followers, and the TikTok #liminalspaces hashtag had over two billion views.”
For those of you who are like me, you might not understand some of those terms. So I searched them for you. 🙂 4chan is an anonymous imageboard website, similar to Reddit. A creepypasta is a horror story that typically involves paranormal activity to scare readers. It’s popular with people who like adrenaline rushes, and who are willing to sacrifice healthy sleep to get their fix. “Noclipping” is a gaming term that means glitching through solid objects or walls without damaging anything. This allows you to reach other places without being obvious. BUT, if you do it wrong, you could end up hurt… dead… or in the Backrooms. The Backrooms are as described above, and are of infinite interest to me- which is how I discovered liminal spaces.
“(Liminal space) is based on the concept of Liminality, which comes from the Latin word, Limen, meaning threshold. It refers to the empty space between two places… It is the space between what was and what will be. But, you are not yet in the place of what will be. And, you are keenly aware of the loss of all that was.”
– Dr Barrylin Mangin
Category: Creepy
Creepy is not my thing. There’s been plenty of youtubers who have made videos exploring physical spots, although a lot of abandoned places in real life are extremely dangerous and against the law to trespass on. Certain people create those videos to be more creepy than they actually are, like catching your eye by the thumbnail and acting on edge while they adventure illegally. (Not everyone, but there’s a genre.) There’s also a lot of videos of people reacting to creepy liminal space video games etc. and Reddit threads dedicated entirely to this topic.
If you are into the creepy side of things, here’s some resources you might enjoy!
Brandon Farris playing “Granny”, a horror game taking place in a liminal-vibe mansion house. Watch here! It’s more funny than scary in my opinion, but since I don’t like creepy it’s kinda all I got haha. He also plays Outlast, Slenderina, and other games that are NOT my idea of a fun time. (The 2-part Slenderina and the Granny series are my favorite. ♡ He screams like a girl.)
There’s a youtuber called Sssniperwolf who has made a series of videos called “videos you should NOT watch at night”. Some of them have liminal themes you might be interested in.
You might enjoy the movie Level 16! It’s a sci-fi/thriller movie that i LOVE and have watched many times. 10/10.
There’s a decent chance you might enjoy Odd Thomas (2013 thriller/mystery movie), or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
You also might like this profile! It is very creepy, and I know that because I just freaked myself out looking at it. I hope you know I love you.
GUESS WHAT? THIS ONE IS CREEPY TOO! THIS IS ALL YOU”RE GONNA GET< I”M DONE
Category: Pools (yes, pools)
Pools is probably my favorite category for liminal space. I know, it sounds stupid. I’ve heard it called “poolcore” before and surprisingly, it does work for a google search. There’s just something so weird about the sound of water lapping quietly against tile while you sit, watching nothing happen because there’s nothing to be seen. Always empty of people, and no lifeguards. Swim at your own risk. I don’t know why it draws me in so much. I guess it might be because liminal space expects nothing from you. You can just sit and stare at a wall for hours with no consequences. There’s no such thing as “wasting time” because time has no value. And I’ve always loved water and swimming, so maybe that’s why it calls to me. I dunno. But these photos are the ones that really make me feel like I’m there. It’s the same reason I was always drawn to the big empty pool room in Biltmore. The pool category usually has two variants- the inclosed, almost claustrophobic ones, and the ones that go on forever, disappearing into the distance. Biltmore’s pool is empty and dry, deep and small. The walls seem to close in on it, as if slowly trapping you in a wet, soggy nightmare. Like I said, I’m not usually one for the creepy stuff. But I’ve been lucky enough to visit a couple of times, and it’s always been a subject of fascination for me. (I didn’t include a photo of it here but you can look it up! :)) But all kinds of photos in this category interest me. Even the ones with the slides that lead to nowhere- maybe the monster from the Chamber of Secrets is waiting for you inside of one; idk and idc. I find them intriguing, and that’s all I need to know.
If you enjoy poolcore as much as I do, you might like these resources!
This instagram profile is where some of my pool photos came from!
Whoever runs this account has an amazing talent for finding cool stuff.
Category: Eerie
Eerie is very interesting, although still not my favorite. This category usually shows off photos and videos that feel stale. Not scary, but as if the world has been put on pause and stayed there for a very long time. That’s kinda the definition of liminal space in my mind, but there’s something different about this category. Eerie is a place that feels empty and vulnerable, usually accompanied by dark corners and/or prominent shadows. A lot of this category can be found in the forest or abandoned (often not deteriorating) buildings. I do enjoy eerie but it’s not my favorite.
If you like eerie, here’s some resources you might enjoy!
For “After Hours Street Ambience”, check out this cool dude on instagram!
For calming pixel art, consider visiting this artist!
For stunning forest views, watch this photographer’s content!
For nature walks and creative shots, try out this creator! (I don’t love all the ghost stuff he’s been doing tho.)
You might enjoy the Twilight series! It’s a little… ok, it’s a lot dumb. But the overall aesthetic draws me in so much and makes it worth watching from time to time.
You might also love Edward Scissorhands! One of my all-time favorite movies. Amazing aesthetic, perfect casting, peculiar but sweet storyline, and directed by Tim Burton!
Category: Nostalgic
I love nostalgic, but I don’t always relate to it as much. As a homeschooler, I didn’t have the same experiences as “most” people. So the things they remember as kids aren’t necessarily the things I do. And I wouldn’t trade that for the world! But it does make this category feel a little more distant to me. Nostalgic liminal spaces can be a bit creepy to look at when you first take a glance, but the longer you look, the more familiar it feels. You know you’ve never seen it before, and you certainly haven’t been there. But you know it. You remember being small, standing beside that ball pit, considering jumping in. You remember the plastic monkey waving at you from the ceiling. You remember what it was like, crawling around on that exact floor playing with cars. And in those memories, all the noise of real play time was gone, and everything was silent. But you’ve never actually been there.
It’s FREAKY. Super, super freaky and weird… and somehow comforting. Most of the time, the photos you see are low quality. Sometimes fuzzy. Oversaturated. This is to encourage your mind to jump into the photo. It draws you in like an old memory you thought you’d forgotten, but empty of people and you’re just alone looking around. (Most of the photos I found were clear, which is… a little weird, but yeah)
If you like nostalgic liminal vibes, you might enjoy these resources!
STRANGER THINGS!! You would probably LOVE Stranger Things. It isn’t quiet and stable like traditional liminal content, but it feels like what might happen behind the scenes of the liminal world. Monsters, powers, and surprising maturity from such small humans. ESPECIALLY the upside-down. It’s entirely a liminal world. Amazing.
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is a movie you might like.
You might like this instagram account!
And this one is cool too!
I made a Spotify playlist of the songs I listened to when I was a kid! Won’t be everyone’s tastes but… you don’t have to listen to it
Category: Transitory
Transitory is probably my second favorite- it’s often described as “a waiting place” or sort of endless wandering. You lose all sense of things that matter and just drift, looking around at all the empty soulless space that surrounds you. Most of the transitory photos are of empty hallways, airports, offices, malls, etc that have been abandoned and are usually empty of stuff. Just peeling wallpaper and worn down carpet floors. These spaces seem to go on forever with no end in sight. There’s typically no doors or windows in this category. Or, sometimes there’s doors that have nothing inside; just a wall standing between you and whatever might be behind it. The Backrooms is a transitory space, which is probably why this genre blew up. “Careful, don’t slip, you’ll end up in the backrooms!” “Oh my gosh, did you see that guy run into the door? He’s trying to get into the backrooms lol” “Bro he hit that pole so hard his soul just got sent to the backrooms.”
Enjoy transitory vibes? Here’s some extra resources you might like!
This is my favorite mood playlist creator. Her stuff is AMAZING and gives me so much calm. Perfect for showers. And she’s on Spotify too!
If you like this category, you might enjoy the movie Warm Bodies! It’s one of those movies I keep going back to. It’s a zombie movie so expect some not-as-chill-vibes, but sooo good.
More on liminal space
A lot of the photos in all categories make absolutely no sense. Slides that twist towards the sky instead of the ground, hills that go nowhere, sometimes upside down objects etc. – it feels like disappearing from reality. They suck you in in an instant, trapping you in a fuzzy far away dream. They’re addictive and fascinating. Level 16 is a glimpse into the liminal world as well, in my opinion. Empty corridors with only “the big eyes” to keep you company, clean and orderly rooms with flickering lights and no furniture, beds in the living quarters lined up against the wall in exact placement… the stairwells, the “viewing room”, “downstairs”, the operating room, etc. It’s so empty. Empty and hollow, despite having many inhabitants. They’re like ghosts drifting unconsciously about their day, not a single thought in their minds. Edward Scissorhands is another great example of the liminal world: perfectly lined up houses, almost identical in structure, feels like it could stretch on forever. The castle is empty and soulless, as if it was abandoned shortly after building it, yet worn down and used. Places people have been, but have long since abandoned. That’s the vibe. And it’s amazing. A place for my brain to escape to when everything in the real world is so overwhelming and full of static and stimulation. I think my dream job would be taking liminal photos for a living. They’re so beautiful and I love them and would love to be the one actually experiencing it and capturing a real-life moment of solid emptiness.
“Ah, to be the soul wandering in a soulless place. To occupy the unoccupied, and be present in a place without presence.”
Some people have even made liminal spaces in minecraft!! I think I have a new passtime idea 🙂
Other stuff you might enjoy 🙂
IDK if this has creepy stuff or not, after the creepy links from before I’m scared to look lol (not actually laughing)
This account has a little variety 🙂
I don’t see anything scary here, and lots of interesting stuff! (At a glance at least, I haven’t dug deep)
THIS PROFILE MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE SO FAR!! Lots of pool art but crosses into other categories too! (Go check out my favorite one – “The Ball Pit”)
You might enjoy “Machinarium”! It’s one of my favorite games. It’s a city in disrepair, only inhabited by robots.
I have taken a some liminal photos myself! I have many, but only a few I could find at the moment. They aren’t perfect but I love taking them. I might edit this post again if I find more, though! So maybe check back in in a month or two to see if it’s been updated, if you care and can remember lol. If you follow my instagram, I’ll post on my story if I find something new to add!
Thank you so much for enduring this post, and I hope you have a wonderful day! God bless!
♡ Shortie
