If you ever find yourself in a space that brings up a feeling of ‘not knowing what’s up but something’s definitely up’ you may have encountered a liminal space. Obsessed over by fans who chase the unsettling feel, liminal spaces have become somewhat of a mysterious phenomenon surfing around the internet.
According to Imgur user RobJustice, “The liminal space is the 'crossing over' space, a space where you have left something behind, yet you are not yet fully in something else. It's a transition space.”
And thanks to the r/LiminalSpace subreddit with 237k members, we now have some of the most captivating examples to rest (or stress) our eyes on. From bowling alleys and abandoned buildings to almost surreal window views and places that feel strangely familiar although you have never been there, it’s hard not to stare for more.
And let us know how you feel about these liminal spaces in the comments below!
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Uniformed Forest
A Phone Box In Snow
To find out more about these mysterious spaces that have been capturing the internet's imagination, Bored Panda talked to Lillie Marshall, an English teacher and writer who runs Around the World "L" Travel and Life Blog. Lillie is also a self-confessed fan of liminal spaces and discussed the phenomenon in her articles that you can check out here and here.
Lillie said she has been fascinated by the concept of liminal spaces since she was little. “I loved thinking and writing about them. So much of our lives are spent in these in-between spaces, and yet we so often ignore them,” she said and added: “Once you can see the importance and beauty of liminal spaces, it makes it much easier to be in the moment and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.”
No No No. Not Good
Picture I Took A Few Years Ago In Poland
It’s Christmas Eve And You’re All Alone
When asked how she’d describe a liminal space, Lillie explained it has to do with a magical and transformative quality. “Liminality can exist in physical space, time, and states of being, and refers to that in-between moment where you're between two things.”
Moreover, “It is a sometimes uncomfortable—but extremely important—era of transformation and shifting. Often we get impatient with these transitional spaces, but they are KEY, and are beautiful and profound if you allow yourself to truly be in them and understand their magical gifts,” she concluded.
Well, That's Not A Good Sign...
Don't Turn The Corner
Google Maps Said This Is Where I Can Find Taco Bell, And I Just Realized That The Last Car I Saw Was An Hour Ago...
One time Google Maps told my family our hotel was down River Road, it was a long-ass gravel trail that led to literally nowhere, and we ended up with a 6-inch nail in our tire. F****n Google Maps, man.
We used to live in the Appalachian mountains in VA and years later went back that way for a trip. We chose a hotel just off the interstate, but Google Maps wanted us to take an exit well before arriving. Out of curiosity, we followed the directions on Maps and ended up on a harrowing narrow switchback with blind curves, no guardrail, and a sheer dropoff straight down about 20 - 30 feet to a raging river. The road it wanted us to take beyond that didn't exist. I emailed Google to notify them, but never heard back.
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I feel it's weird that more ppl don't look ahead to see where Google is taking you before committing to a destination. Always double check ppl.
Google is notorious for this. And we humans are notorious for setting aside common sense and placing our trust in technology despite the obvious signs that it is leading us straight into confusion. The O.P. hadn't seen anyone for an hour. I bet her common sense HAD tickled her brain 50+ minutes prior, when there was no Taco Bell sign evident. Kind of like when Google led me and a very anxious friend down an overgrown, swampy trail that displayed as a full-fledged street connecting us to our destination. We had dual supplies of common sense telling us to turn around before it was too late (not a really safe place to be after dark due to natural hazards topographically and creature critter wise) but it still took hours to throw in the towel and give up.
Whenever my family is taking a road trip and we make a wrong turn, take the wrong exit, AKA-lost. We have always called it a "spontaneous adventure"! Discovered many interesting places.
Well in my country we don't have so i would have to drive a loooong way to find one😅
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On one specific road in Florida, going into Orlando, my GPS tells me (every time) "turn right at the brown building on the corner" LOL
One time we were in Tennessee and trying to get back home and and it some how took us on thes dirt roads way way way high up on a mountain
On a dark, desert highway... cool wind in my hair... warm smell of burritos....
With Google Maps I will never reach there, as Google always tells me to take a U-turn out of nowhere.
I feel like I've seen this many times but I've never seen it before
Lately here in New Mexico, every sunrise and sunset looks exactly like this! Smoke from all the fires from the west and the north. Here is a photo from a couple of days ago. Red-Sky-su...97ec3d.jpg 
Google Maps placed a parking lot farther in the north than it is in reality, resulting in me walking in the wrong direction until realising my mistake. Showed up late to a meeting with friends, but I'm just glad I had lived some years in that town. Otherwise I might have realised I was walking in the opposite direction much later.
I once put Bellvue Golf in Waze in Montreal twenty minutes past where I was going to I realized it wasn't set to Belle Vue Que, but and on a longer drive to Bellevue Golf in Washington State 3,750 Kilometres or 41 hours driving time away.
Gimme a minute and I'll just PhotoShop a Taco Bell into the scene for ya.
Taco Bell is right next to Starbucks, just down the road. Just past the mist. Please, Do Not Stop.
You entered a different dimension, meanwhile a 10 foot scaly humanoid creature is running towards you from behind
hey at least you have a beautiful sunset
Google maps once told me that I was 8 miles away from my house . I wasn't. I was sitting in my bedroom at the time. IN MY HOUSE.🙄
Bored Panda also spoke to Rob Justice, a table-top role-playing game designer and software engineer living in Kansas City, Missouri who is a fan of the liminal aesthetic and has shared an illuminating post on the topic on Imgur.“
A few months ago I saw a picture on Twitter, it's actually the very first one in the imgur post you linked above, and just couldn't stop thinking about it,” he recounted. Rob said he hadn’t heard about liminality so he did a bit of reading. “A few days later I was looking through old pictures on my phone and realized I'd taken a few liminal space pictures myself over the years. Just places that felt unique or odd to me. It's always weird to realize you're a fan of something before you know what it is.”
Stay On The Light. They Won't Be Able To Get You If You're On The Light
It's Not Safe To Go Outside But Inside Feels Haunted
naah Just feels like literally any Eastern European apartment block. I can smell the cigarettes and cats
The Oval Office Between Us Presidents
Rob believes that there’s “something strangely powerful to the human psyche about transitionary places. The feeling of being between two places is an uncanny feeling, whether it's literal or psychological.”
This feeling can occur in any place. “I recently took a family vacation and we spent several hours in airports, where I kept thinking about the concept of liminality; We're not home but we're not on our vacation yet.” Rob explained that just like most transitions, “it's stressful but there is something comforting knowing that it's temporary. I think that's where people find themselves drawn to liminal pictures. It's temporary places made permanent."
This Memory Belongs To Everybody And Nobody
I can hear the wipers and other cars splashing past. And of course, there's a tragic jam. Edit: I only saw this auto correct 5 days later😂🤣
The Liquid Void
The Entrance To The Infinity Pool. Once You Enter, There Is No Going Back
When it comes to describing this phenomenon, Rob said that his favorite definition is that “a liminal space is a 'crossing over' or transition space. It's a place where you have left something behind yet you are not yet fully in something else. It's the space between other spaces.”
Turns out that, “liminal is from the Latin word limen, meaning 'a threshold' so a liminal space is often a boundary point of one space beginning and another space ending,” he concluded.
Lemme Get Some Uhhhhhhh
Only A Faint Hum And My Footsteps Can Be Heard.
My Grandmother’s Basement
The International Space Station At Night
Pool Tunnels
My Friend Was Tested For Covid, This Is The Room He Waited In
The Lower I Go, The Higher The Water Gets
Empty Aquarium Restaurant, Made Me Feel Sad And Empty For Some Reason
I want to say what the title does. It gives me a feeling of hopelessness
No No No No No No No
Dust And Laundry
Aesthetic Liminality
Feels Like I Shouldn't Turn Around. Just Keep Walking
View From The Laundry Room Looks Fake
Waiting The Turn
The Exam Will Take Place Down The Hall And To The Left, Good Luck
Bliss
Driving To The Airport
Maybe I'm the only one, but I love fog and how it seems to transform places by changing nothing but the perspective.
Blue Aesthetic
Found An Artist Doing Some Pure Liminal
Sandy Desert
An Old Pic I Forgot I Had On My Phone
A Nice Place To Make A Best Friend That You'll Never See Again
Railway
Hello? I’m Here For The Conference
8821
Note: this post originally had 56 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I LOVED it. The shining vibes all over. There must be a (genetic? Neurological?) reason why this kind of scenario scares us all
It's mostly places were we're used to seeing other people. It's odd and unnerving to see them empty. A while back, I worked at a 24 hour Walmart. We only closed on Xmas eve. It was really bizarre being in there when it was devoid of customers. Airports after midnight, subway stations when the trains aren't running, an empty waiting room. All are a little spooky.
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Enjoyed these. Some of them were weirdly inviting. Forbidden fruit?
I still don’t understand it. These are just artistic pictures of empty places and interesting architecture. I see no transition between whatevers or anything weird. Also, this got attention again because of Inside, by Bo Burnham, where he mentions his sock puppet lives in liminal space when unused.
None of these scared me either. They merely looked interesting or peaceful to me.
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When I was still a security guard I sometimes had to patrol an abandoned mental ward, built in the 1920's, at night. Flickering fluorecent lights, doors moving in the wind, old style isolation units and art-deco stained glass windows. Too bad I wasn't allowed to take pics. They would have fit nicely in this post.
When I was walking in there I tried not to think of the tremendous amount of suffering and suicides that had taken place within those walls. Also apparently during the war the 'undesirables' living in the ward got 'cleaned up' by the nazi's.
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Oh gosh... thank you for the hellish experience, I enjoyed it all xD
Most of those pictures were scary. Those that took them photos sure have some guts!
Ok I am a bit confused cuz so,e of these pictures make me uncomfortable and others made me calm. What is liminal supposed to mean?
As it says in the article, it is a transitional space like a hallway or country road. There’s nothing really going on there and it is the ignored area when you go from Point A to Point B
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😅 I enjoy a creepy and empty space here and there, it lets me turn my brain off for a bit.
I was impressed by the entries on this list--I almost upvoted all of them! This is a great collection, both because of the photos and the fact that it is rooted in something deep and primal but not mean. Thank you!
I love liminal pictures, I find them very calming and interesting, not creepy at all. Something about them, If I just look at the picture long enough I feel like I'm there in the area.
So glad I don't watch horror movies. Genuinely not triggered or shivering from any of these.
These are so fn scary! Some of these are going to haunt me tonight
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I LOVED it. The shining vibes all over. There must be a (genetic? Neurological?) reason why this kind of scenario scares us all
It's mostly places were we're used to seeing other people. It's odd and unnerving to see them empty. A while back, I worked at a 24 hour Walmart. We only closed on Xmas eve. It was really bizarre being in there when it was devoid of customers. Airports after midnight, subway stations when the trains aren't running, an empty waiting room. All are a little spooky.
Load More Replies... Enjoyed these. Some of them were weirdly inviting. Forbidden fruit?
I still don’t understand it. These are just artistic pictures of empty places and interesting architecture. I see no transition between whatevers or anything weird. Also, this got attention again because of Inside, by Bo Burnham, where he mentions his sock puppet lives in liminal space when unused.
None of these scared me either. They merely looked interesting or peaceful to me.
Load More Replies... When I was still a security guard I sometimes had to patrol an abandoned mental ward, built in the 1920's, at night. Flickering fluorecent lights, doors moving in the wind, old style isolation units and art-deco stained glass windows. Too bad I wasn't allowed to take pics. They would have fit nicely in this post.
When I was walking in there I tried not to think of the tremendous amount of suffering and suicides that had taken place within those walls. Also apparently during the war the 'undesirables' living in the ward got 'cleaned up' by the nazi's.
Load More Replies... Oh gosh... thank you for the hellish experience, I enjoyed it all xD
Most of those pictures were scary. Those that took them photos sure have some guts!
Ok I am a bit confused cuz so,e of these pictures make me uncomfortable and others made me calm. What is liminal supposed to mean?
As it says in the article, it is a transitional space like a hallway or country road. There’s nothing really going on there and it is the ignored area when you go from Point A to Point B
Load More Replies... 😅 I enjoy a creepy and empty space here and there, it lets me turn my brain off for a bit.
I was impressed by the entries on this list--I almost upvoted all of them! This is a great collection, both because of the photos and the fact that it is rooted in something deep and primal but not mean. Thank you!
I love liminal pictures, I find them very calming and interesting, not creepy at all. Something about them, If I just look at the picture long enough I feel like I'm there in the area.
So glad I don't watch horror movies. Genuinely not triggered or shivering from any of these.
These are so fn scary! Some of these are going to haunt me tonight
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