Hello hello! This is Zabeth! forewarning, this blog post will be referring to a lot of stories that have come up in recent years such as The Backrooms, games such as Evade on Roblox which feature a lot of liminal spaces in it's duration of gameplay, and many others. All of this is my personal opinion and thoughts on the topic, no harm towards anybody, no ill intention either! Enjoy Reading!~

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The Comfort Of Liminal Spaces

Liminal Spaces are, in my humble opinion, one of the internet's most interesting creations. Some of you may have heard of liminal spaces like the Backrooms and have probably even seen some such as the pool rooms, the flooded windows, etc. In recent years, these liminal spaces have gained traction for the seemingly "eerie" feeling that they give out. The vibes in these places to most seem very off with the lack of people and feeling in such man made spaces.

But I believe this is all very confusing without the knowledge of what a "liminal space" even is or what the term liminal is.

In this blog, I will be explaining and sharing my thoughts on the idea of liminal spaces and liminality as a whole and expressing my opinion on how liminal spaces can be one's comfort instead of one's fear.

What is Liminality?

Liminality IS and MUST BE a combination of different things:

In concept, liminal spaces refer to a sort of transitional period or gateway between two regions or states. In concrete terms, these would be things like pathways, hallways, roads. etc. In abstract terms, things like the act of waiting, transitional periods in life, and even the transitional times of day - things that could be compared to a state of limbo. 

In practice, it is not simply a transition in one sense. Like just a road or a photo of a hallway can be considered a liminal space. A place can be considered liminal only when multiple transitional qualities have been combined. 

In photography and other types of media, liminality revolves around a sense of lingering in a space that usually would be passed without a second thought. Similar to the hallways of an airport, people walk by them in an instant without a second thought—leaving and arriving, but never staying for too long, as it would feel almost wrong to do so. Compare this to the feeling of being in the hallways or rooms of your own home; the unfamiliarity in this space is absent, removing that deeper element of transition."

In addition, liminal spaces must be empty. Devoid of people. The absence of people is necessary to create this feeling that a place is in a clear state of limbo. Posters, signs of human presence, must be removed in order to create this feeling of kenopsia. The sort of surreal atmosphere of an empty place that's typically populated by people. A school hallway at night, a playground with no signs of people, and unlit office on a weekend. 

Very lastly, a liminal image must be liminal on it's own. The lack of any imperceptible context or personal experience.

In general, liminality is a combinations of transitional periods among physical and emotional things and the lack of action within such a transitional period.

But what has happened to this concept of liminality since it's has risen in popularity?

The Backrooms

The Backrooms is a creepypasta story posted on a 4Chan thread back in 2019. One of the current best examples for this aesthetic of liminality. It was first described to be a maze of empty office rooms made with slightly sticky carpet, daunting warm tones ceiling lights, musty yellow wallpaper, that can only be entered by "No clipping out of reality".

This refers to a term by gamers mostly where you glitch into a space of the game that wasn't made for the public eyes. A space filled with nothing but the junk of the game, empty rooms that were generated and the creator never figured out how to remove, the empty parts of the game. Many people have hopped on the bandwagon of the backrooms especially with games such as Evade on Roblox and many others.

It rose to popularity after photos circulated of this so called "backrooms" existing. After this people started to add on their own versions of different levels in the backrooms. The way that you can glitch out of reality into spaces of different sizes that can go on till infinity or can be as small as a few square meters. Some safe to stay in forever, some will guarantee your death.

Now why do I mention the backrooms aside from the fact that it is literally one of the most popular examples of liminal spaces there is at the moment? Well I mention this because the Backrooms, for as fascinating as it is, has altered most people's view on liminal spaces as a whole.

As the Backrooms rose into popularity, so did people's additions to it and one of these additions happen to be entities that roam around these liminal spaces and attack you. The way they loom around the corners of each liminal space waiting for new food, a new person to feast on.

This added an element of fear (as if the fact of being potentially stuck forever in this mundane space isn't going to make you go insane) and the idea that all liminal spaces have to contain an entity. Where there is spaces you can live in, spaces where you're forever the hunted, and spaces where you are automatically sentenced to death and being sent to such spaces happens at random.

Of course this isn't the sole reason for this element of fear, it all comes down to the atmosphere of most recent photos of liminal spaces. Things like lighting, low quality photos, the fact that most liminal photos look abandoned, and the looming sense of unfamiliarity makes these spaces evoke a negative feeling, a feeling of fear or discomfort.

It is the initial feeling of discomfort, this feeling of slight fear and unfamiliarity, that drives others away from seeing what other feelings liminal spaces provide, like comfort.

The Peace in Loneliness

Have you ever felt like you belonged nowhere? Like the current space in the world wasn't one that was made to fit a person like you in it? Moments where you reminisce on the better days of life? Of course you have.

We all have.

Bad days are not exempt from one's life and very often (for me at least) there is this undying feeling where I want to sink deep into something. Go somewhere where there is only myself. A space that's truly mine.

Liminal spaces, when you look at them, feel like a distant memory. One you can never reach. There is a feeling of familiarity, like you've seen them before, covered by this initial feeling of discomfort from the emptiness and the paranoid thought that you're not truly alone in such a space. But set aside all those thoughts and stare at it for a moment.

They're devoid of anything, of any people, of anything at all. They feel like moments of the past that I've simply walked by without any thought, a void of emptiness, loneliness, sorrow, and nostalgia in a place like those seen in liminal spaces provide me with some sort of a revelation that this might be the peace I needed.

Seeing once lively places now devoid of life remind me of what myself, I was once a happy kid too, I probably still am now but soon even I will start to see that life be drained. Slowly, I too, will lose the life that once filled myself and that's what I find myself resonating with when looking at these liminal spaces and yet for me it is so comforting, why?

It’s lonely and unnerving, sure, but when I’m always feeling and seeing so much, it’s nice. I spend so much of my time overstimulated and overwhelmed. Being angry, being happy, being scared, grief those are draining. Being mildly sad, being lonely, being a little unnerved, it’s a break. It’s cold, but when my skin is covered in burns the cold is soothing.

There is only you in these spaces.

That's the comfort I find in it.

What if I Was The Only Person Left?

I find myself day dreaming about being stuck in a liminal space a lot. I would be free to explore the world, do whatever I want for a day, I would feel safe with the knowledge that the next day everything would be back. The feeling of being left alone to finally think and to finally breathe is exhilarating and it would be a dream come true for me to finally be part of that.

To me, it is an opportunity to rest, and I feel like this fantasy of mine is what I often associate with when I see liminal spaces. It's uncomfortable at first but it's a break from everything that bothers me. All that is left is me with my thoughts and feelings and that to me is all I could ask for.

Thank you so much for making it through this short blog of mine! I hope you enjoyed hearing my thoughts about it and what liminality is. As a reminder, I am not a professional writer or blogger, this is all merely for fun and a way to share my thoughts.

With matsalab,

Zabeth