The Art of The In-Between: An Analysis of Liminal Spaces
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- Опубліковано 19 січ 2025
- In this video analysis, we dive deep into the mesmerizing world of liminal spaces, exploring their profound connection to horror, the Backrooms, and the eerie realms in between. Hopefully, you enjoy as we unravel the mysterious allure of these transitional zones, examining their psychological impact and cultural significance. From abandoned buildings to empty corridors, we venture into the heart of liminality, where reality blurs and the unknown lurks. Prepare to be spellbound by the exploration of these spine-chilling spaces, as we unveil the secrets they hold and their profound influence on popular culture. Join your boy as I peel back the layers of liminal spaces, Get ready to embrace the darkness and unlock the secrets of the world of liminal spaces.
Hope you enjoyed, and subscribe if you wish to.
2:22 AM: umbrella-isle....
Uncanny Valley in physical spaces: www.researchga...
Liminal spaces are the most comfortable yet uncomfortable side of horror that I think has ever existed, subscribe if you want to.
You are so underrated
@@rip_dragondarealone Thanks! Glad you think that way, I'm still trying to find good footing on my content.
Bro deserved the 10 dollars i got today. This is my way of saying that your underrated
It is not just nostalgia.
It is liminal space between nostalgia and no nostalgia at all.
When some spaces exist between relatable and alien.
Take seeing an image of an abandoned mall where you and your friends use to spend times together as kids/teenagers.
It brings back good memories of socially interacting with friends, yet it is hauntingly alien to you.
It has fragments that inspires nostalgia, yet screams that you are not welcome there in its emptiness and devoid of life.
I think Stanley Kubrick‘s the shining does this very well?
"If these walls could talk, they would say nothing" is an incredible line
I remember hearing that line somewhere but I can't remember where, I guess it was a repressed memory from a video I watched ages ago that made its way in.
Pretty common phrase
@@Cresendex I couldn't find it anywhere, but to be fair I didn't look very hard
@@Cresendex solar sands' liminal space video? he says 'if these walls could talk'
@@Cresendex see the *heavy* inspiration you took from solar sands in this video and the megalophobia video. It feels like its plagiarism but you add your own ideas and thoughts so it kinds makes up for it
3:19 so nostalgic. I can almost hear the sound of a remote being shoved somewhere.
thought I was the only one 😂😂😂😂
I find that particular image so creepy and I just don't know why. Is it the resolution?
that picture looks scarily similar to the hotel i went to 2 years ago in india
It’s the room from the old UA-cam video of a kid getting mad because his mom deleted his world of Warcraft account
i recognize that from the original crashout
Man, I love when the internet community can create beautiful things like Liminal Spaces and Backrooms.
It's such a weird idea, horror derived from nothing but the environment, but it works so well.
zoomers almost ruined it with their silly “lore” but I’m glad that fad is dead.
@@DrSpaceman42tbh I think there shouldn’t be lore to the backrooms. Like who created it and stuff.
But I do think there should be monsters. Like hounds or some blobby things.
(In a handful rather than how they are now)
@@pelsckopolesko to me, the essence of the backrooms and liminal horror stuff IS the loneliness. Like being alone in a place where it’s usually crowded. The absence of life is more terrifying than silly doom-sprite looking meme material.
It’s nice when people actually work to gether
I find liminal spaces more calming than creepy.
Many people think that, and honestly I'd have to agree, there are a lot of aspects that make places of transition comfortable rather than scary.
@@Cresendexyh
someones gonna reply with “🤖”
They can be both. What sells it for me is that it can make you feel at peace and uneasy at the same time.
@@cawsomeaolin🤖
This is the first video on liminal spaces that I've seen mention an actual scientific study on it.
Absolutely phenomenal!
Thanks! Although I can't take credit for finding the study, I saw it in a different video and thought it fit liminal spaces well.
They need to do a study on what smooth brains think liminal spaces are actually scary or even interesting for that matter.
@@UnmaleableiPad kids 6 to 11 fit that description
"the complex : found footage" is one of the best game in this kind of backroom (with no monster) it's just exploration (no screamer, no threat, just you) there is no jumpscare and it's free
I've heard of it, although it has been talked about by others, which is why I chose to look at a 2:22 AM a game that hasn't really been talked about as much.
2:22am
I wish I could play it
It may be free, but it surely doesn't feel like it.
play subliminal there will be an exploration mode
That backrooms part was great. Explained how over-saturating something can ruin it, or can make you appreciate it for what it is. I’ve always just loved the vast variety of liminal spaces that you can find that invoke a sort of nostalgia. Great video.
It definitely can, although the backrooms being oversaturated was good for another type of community, just not liminal horror. (And by the way I checked out your channel, your videos are really funny, especially the furry one lol)
@@Cresendex haha, I had a fun time making those videos. Thank you. By the way I've been wanting to make documentary style videos and game reviews for a while, like these. Do you have any tips for me? I know the basics of content creation and I see you do too. I haven't made a video in over a year and I want to try something different and I don't really know where to start with making video essays like this.
@@Slimely My biggest tip for you is to find an idea that you actually like, before this I wrote 1000 words of another idea I had, but decided I didn't like it and scrapped it, you really need to find an idea you really like first, then watch videos related to that and note down any lines people say, or words that have something to do with your video, as well as anything that comes to your head about the topic. For example, the study on Uncanny architecture I brought up was from another video that I had written down because it was similar to liminal spaces. The ideas will start flowing once you have a lot of basic things you want to talk about written down, optionally you can use ChatGPT to give you ideas and talking points, although I don't do this because most of the stuff ChatGPT has to say has been documented by other videos. Once you have a list of things to talk about it's all about connecting them together. That's usually my writing process, and by the quality of your videos, it seems like you have the editing down. I'd be happy to help with any other questions you have.
Thanks for the tip man sorry about that I have social anxiety and and dyslexia so I get a little nervous when it comes to trying to make sure my message comes out where it's at least understandable but I do agree with everything you talked about especially in your video and I'm going to say this as somebody who lived half percent of their life in a hospital battling cancer I always get that familiar feel when it comes to being in hospitals
@@Cresendexi think the entire problem is their idea of horror and monsters don’t work with what the underlying horror of the back rooms WAS.
Being harmed and dying in the back rooms wasn’t the horror,
The horror was being lost AND trapped in uncertainty.
In an endless hallway that should lead to a room but never does.
I think instead of harming you, the monsters should just send you to other levels and eventually you just loop back to where you were and everything just becomes loops between layers of varying sizes to the point where even the first level you were on which should be the most familiar is the most uncertain because now you know at any moment you could be sent on another exodus through stranger spaces.
Places that is supposed to be filled with people, suddenly empty… feel more at home than home. The memories you created in these places come rushing back to you. The place itself feels more like a friend you haven’t seen in a while.
It's a place that feels human because it has lost its humanity.
@@Cresendex This is why I feel at home in the liminal.
I once had a nightmare that depicted a diner filled with people celebrating a party. People were laughing, talking, playing games, eating and having fun
Then, in the blink of an eye, the scene changed
Everything was exactly the same, but everyone was long dead. Still, silent and unmoving and mummified, and the once jovial music suddenly changed to a single note that slowly trailed off into silence
@@SamuelBlack84 Turn this into a story. Nightmares are perfect materials to help with story development and coming to terms with your fear
@@kellyntaylor8184 I incorporated it into a post-apocalyptic novel I wrote some years ago
The Langoliers by Stephen King is a superb example of this--stuck in the past, the characters find themselves in a world that is completely empty and lifeless. No wind, no sound, even echoes are dulled. The miniseries captured it perfectly in the eerie feeling of the dead Bangor airport.
I've heard of it, honestly, I wanted to add it to the video, but I noticed some other videos on liminal spaces were already talking about it, so I decided against it in an attempt at originality.
In the series it's explained that when the past becomes present it becomes a temporal realm that is a empty husk of the present. The langoliers only exist in this past realm and consume all matter recycling reality for the future
I love the Langoliers. It presents such an interesting and eerie concept
It's like the past exists in some virtual build map devoid of anything
I love that movie so much (although I gotta admit, the weird monster design is goofy as hell, but it was a product of its time)
@@PineMountainMusician I remember being terrified by the Langoliers as a kid. But rewatching it now and seeing what passed for CGI in 1995... yeesh
Thank you for this video. Honestly. I never knew why I felt so shattered when I would see a liminal image. “The dread of knowing these things can never be brought back…” is what really locked it in for me. Wonderfully put.
It's not just the spaces that feel so familiar but also the music, everything just feels so familiar and relaxing It's hard to explain
I want to thank you. I sat here and watched this like a toddler. I get everything you’re saying. I don’t know anything anymore, but this brought me joy.
I absolutely love the concept of liminal spaces, I even use them to write poetry. It's an amazing empty uncanny world
video proof that--sometimes--new channels are the best ones. Great job! I'll definitely be waiting for more.
Thanks a lot, it's comments like these that really make me want to keep going.
I relate so much to the after school story intro..I've always enjoyed doing the same as well (not necessarily at a school), but theres just something that always put me at ease about wandering in solitude in these kinds of places. It almost feels like playing a tranquil horror game level in first person irl
It's cool that other people share what I felt back then, and I think it's the reason I got into Urban Exploration, (I have some abandoned buildings near my house)
My brother and I when we were kids would go with our dad to work where he delivered stock to shops in the early morning long before they opened and I used to love the emptiness, silence and freedom to act however I wanted to
I agree. I always did the same in my wheelchair
7:04 This image hits me so hard. Ive never seen a place like this in real life but i've visited a place that looks almost exactly like this in my dreams. I get this feeling of newness and peace and exploration, and a childlike comfort. I wish i was a kid again.
Feel's like a dream or a merging between things from no time in history? Checks a lot of the box's for a liminal space. Something dream-like that you've never seen but feel and can relate to. like a neighborhood you would pass by, but so many things are off and strange, a sense of otherwordly-ness. There's no context or sense to the image.
ive had a dream just like that place too!!! i was in a narrow ally between the buildings sitting at a small circular cafe table, i think i was drinking coffee. across the road there was a weirdly shallow horizon on a desert with some low hills. i think there were tumble weeds, and one long train track over the hills like a cartoon. i remember the sun barely arched over the horizon, and i could move it from east to west if i concentrated hard enough. it was so weird to watch the sun move so fast back and forth. i remember thinking to myself, "i wish i was somewhere else," referring to the place i lived in my waking life. then i had another thought, "but im somewhere else right now." it felt so peaceful and warm, and then i woke up. it took probably a couple hours to feel normal after that
@@everettlopez9127 mm interesting. Another liminal space a swear I've been to in my dreams are the dreampools. I've never been to a capillaries pool or anywhere like the dreampools ever in real life, but it feels so familiar and gas this aura that accompanies it that I've felt before as a kid.
@@cranker7777 definitely a dream
I've always found a sense of calm in liminal spaces that I rarely find any other place.
Its soothing, and warm, and known.
But without the turmoil that people always add to the mix.
They are quiet, silent, beautiful...
This video brought me back to myself as a kid. My old house wasn't the best, since my family was broke we would have no power so at night it would be pitch black and would look endless....Yet whenever I could I would stare into the emptiness. Its a feeling I couldn't and probably could never understand fully, to this day I still do this but its not the same, that house was my feeling and ill never experience it again.
Similar thing for me, up until I was about 13 I would never go to the kitchen to get water at night, just the prospect of getting out of bed scared me, mostly because the area was pitch black and I felt like I was looking into the void.
When you stare into the abyss, it also stares into you
Okay, listen, when you said you were still in high school, I audibly gasped. These ‘video essays’, (if you want to classify them that) are better than some award-winning books I’ve read. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who truly appreciated and connected to the idea of liminal spaces and what really makes them, well, liminal spaces. And the fact that you can share that with us in a way that will make someone like me binge watch them over and over again or put them on while I work or even play video games. It may just be my unusual liking of liminal spaces or something, but to me your videos are just amazing. It may not seem like a lot, but your word choices are great, you don’t dwell too long or too short on a certain topic, and you always leave your viewers, with, well, a new view of things. I genuinely think you’ve got a future with this stuff, I love it. The fact that you’re making, editing, recording, and writing these videos and your still in high school really surprises me, you have got so much talent, and again, most adults will never be able to record or write something this good. You are extremely underrated! Thank you so, so much for making these videos, I and thousands of other people extensively appreciate it. Keep up the good work, and have a great day! ❤
P.S. And can I just say that the fact that you say ‘subscribe if you want to’ compared to nearly every other popular youtuber’s fancy edited words and phrases, or they begging you to subscribe, or the one that we know all too well- ‘Hit that subscribe button, click the like button and the bell icon to be notified whenever I make a new video’. But the fact that you just say ‘subscribe if you want to’ makes such a difference and is very kind in my opinion.
This is the comment I was looking for because I was going to say the same thing, the quality of the writing is so high for a teenager (and just in general!)
Thanks for this comment, looking back on this video I probably shouldn't have mentioned I was so young (might make people underestimate my abilities for future videos) but I did anyway, and have never mentioned it since, I did a poll and post people think I'm an adult which is a compliment I guess. I hope you got a bit excited when I made my updated nearly hour long video on liminal spaces and the fear of forgetting, but yeah, comments like this one are what keep me going, so thanks!
Completely agree with everything you said he is really good with this the way of the video hit the sweet spot is very pleasing.
I've always been fascinated by these. i always liked the disturbing, dreamy and calming vibe.
This is literally extremely relatable. Whenever I see an image of a Liminal Space, I always look for something to fear, some creature that is paranormal. But I know I never will, because after all, there isn’t any humanity or any other creatures in these areas, other than you.
One could argue that beyond our own awareness of ourselves, we can't ever be certain that anyone else is real, and maybe we are always within a liminal space interacting with fitments of our imagination
I can't even be sure that you're real
@@SamuelBlack84 fake or cake
Liminal spaces are similar to a certain concept that really fascinates me:
the idea that our depictions of some of our oldest mythological creatures have far more to do with our own subconscious pattern-recognition and the proto-memories of our genetic ancestors from a point where they weren’t quite the same species we are now, projecting their perceptions of surviving in the world around them into the collective human subconscious of today.
But now as humans we have been spoiled, instead of fearing a monster, we fear the spaces we've made.
@@Cresendex there’s also the question of whether the ‘uncanny valley’ effect implies that there was once a species that looked really similar to ours that we had reason to be scared of
@@arlen7726 I've heard of that theory, not much backing it up but it sure does keep you up at night
I get what you’re saying and while I prefer liminal spaces just for the feelings they invoke in me, the original backrooms post DID mention an entity so I can’t blame people for running with it.
I do wish there was more separation between the two though. I don’t like looking up liminal spaces and getting results with entities instead.
The thing I like about the original post is that it never outright confirmed the existence of a monster, only suggested it, it never showed you anything, it only got you thinking.
@@Cresendex honestly, that really makes it much more creepy. Imagine being trapped in such a eerie space, with the implication of a monster, but you don't know if it exists. You would be constantly terrified of both the weird, spooky, endless space you are in and of the "monster", even if it was not there. The thought that being terrified of something that could be there, but doesnt have to, is super interesting. Also, lovely Video you made.
Was that the Dashcon ball pit at 0:12? That's great lol!
For me it’s inspiring for stories. Not stories for the image I’m looking for but the feeling of the uncanny. Example a town where everyone gives you a dead toned look. As though they were looking straight through you.
Ask someone for help and all they do it stare at you back for me it’s just the same as though they were never there in the first place, but yet again they’re there. Liminal spaces are truly an underrated subject.
That quote at the end, it felt like it breathed new life into me. I needed that.
You're the first person to talk about that ending quote, honestly am so glad I found it for the sake of this video.
The clarity you bring is undefined. I hope my clarity is intertwined. Etc etc
4:11 that mall is actually not too far from my house. It closed when I was real young, but I remember going to the K-Mart and Chuck E Cheese directly outside of it when I was a kid.
The feeling you describe at 7:12 in the game mentioned is the exact feeling I get when I’m seeping into depression.
It’s a slow de-realization of your perceived reality. I’ve experienced this one other time in lsd. I’d been planning to do it that day, but the week has been mediocre at best.
The days after the trip were the weirdest span of my life. Everything just felt off, like I felt the people around me were unintentionally-intentionally messing with me. I learned to play a poker face and perform as if everything was normal.
It’s become a very useful and interesting lesson for how I get through my depressive periods, especially winter.
Thx for creating this video and sharing that study, it helped me validate this experience I’ve had more clearly.
I visited my old elementary school last year it was strange. No children were there and you had to enter through an old rusty fence. There you would hear the mild scrape of your shoe sole against the weathered concrete and then upon the wet mulch where I once played many years before. The whole section had not been changed at all. It was the same as I remember the creaky swings and the blue plastic hippo where me and my friends would play dentist. The dark dusk gloomed overhead but I still felt a undying lust to go back where I once was to go back to my old childhood and play with my friends once again even though I know it would never happen again. Everything felt so magical back then but not anymore. If you are a young kid just enjoy it while you can nostalgia is the most bittersweet it gets.
Playing Pools is my new therapy. There is nothing like the feeling of combined calm and dread. It's my new favorite state.
while i dont 100% agree with your description of what a true liminal space is (which is honestly very subjective to begin with) this video is great. i LOVE that you included the uncanny physical spaces paper! i never wouldve found it otherwise and it is so interesting to me. and i absolutely agree with the whole backrooms over saturation part as well.
genuinely brilliant, i hope to see more stuff (even non liminal!) in the future :D
Thanks for the support! But I'm curious, what is your description of a liminal space?
I am a Gen X-er and an introvert. I have been to Tumblr, to UA-cam, to dedicated liminal spaces websites, and I’m baffled by how this is disconcerting, frightening, or even all that interesting. I enjoyed being alone in my high school hallway during classes because the fear was the opposite when students were everywhere. I enjoyed working until 7pm in an office because I could focus and get work done-and the lighting was motion detector generated, so most of the building was dim.
The Stranger Things series is filmed in Gwinnett Place, which was built in 1983. I graduated high school the same year, and that school was about three miles from the mall. My memory of the area is active and thriving. The mall died many years ago and was therefore a perfect setting for the show.
I watched a current era video about the mall. I didn’t feel dread, fear, humor, much. I noticed familiarity, which is part of your definition, and that’s precisely because I shopped there.
I absolutely felt a version of LS when my grandmother brought me to church organ practice on Saturday. No one else was there, and I ran through the church because no one would stop me. It felt so counterintuitive that I could go to the pulpit, analyze the stained glass windows, and slide down the pews. Still I was four or five and was physically there. I’ve seen numerous photos of the empty sanctuary, and I see nothing remarkable.
When I was at the Terlingua, TX, ghost town, I took perspective pics through no-glass windows. They’re cool pictures. It’s a ghost town, so that means empty. My pics make me proud of my photographer’s eye, but nothing like “liminal.”
For some reason, I am bereft of the emotional connection to LS. I am equally unable to find a reaction to any ASMR stuff. I get it intellectually, but generally I feel like I’m trying to decipher a joke spoken in Haitian Creole.
Some people simply don't understand it, I think it has to do with background and how you were raised, or something psychological?
It's hard to say why this phenomenon only effects some people, makes them more interesting in my opinion.
For me I have two experiences with liminal spaces in my life I’ll never forget.
The first was when I was young I was spending a weekend with my friend and his folks. His mom had to run errands and we were that age of us having to go to. One of them was we had to stop by our church and my friend and I got to wander around for a while and all the doors were unlocked. We had free reign and it was kinda haunting.
The next was a few years ago when I went with my folks to an art show that was taking place in a completely run down mall in the next city over. No one was at the show and we basically wandered a derelict building for hours. And when we stepped outside the sun was setting and we were on a random level of a completely empty parking garage. That afternoon still sticks out in my memory.
Wow, this video is one of my favorites. Such an artistic interpretation and of course one that I agree. Your channel is one of my favorites for horror and each video I watch is another great inspiration. Also, doing this as a high schooler is insane! Your voice is very calming and the editing makes these videos immersive. I hope you keep doing this because it’s so good 😌🫴
this video is so amazingly well put together and just great, you did an awesome job man! no doubt you’ll get big one day
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it's why I make these :D
You are so eloquent and your mind is beautiful. I just found you today and my husband and I have been listening to all of your videos, thank you for the time and effort you put into these, we are amazed! Pure, raw skill and talent.
“If these wall could talk, they would sa-“
*STARBUCKS AD*
I swear I always feel like I'm in this space and I have been drawn to liminal spaces my entire life. I'm glad I understand that now, thank you so much for explaining this
Same. I always felt something odd about some places or situations. When i was child i had weird fever dreams (more like nightmares) about something similar, its hard to explain feelings.
I recall in 9th grade during open house me and my best friend decided to hang out while our parents did the whole teacher parent stuff and we walked around our school and school fields and it felt both fascinating yet uneasy. We didn’t know how to describe it. It kind of reminded me of Silent Hill. A familiar small town but yet something haunting underlying it
To me, it’s calming. I had several experiences similar to you in my early childhood where I would explore spaces exhibiting liminal space. However lately, I recently re-discovered my love for the phenomenon as I become more lonely. It reminds me how much lonelier I could be and to be more appreciative of both situations of being around people and not being around people. Great video man, much love.
As a horror snob, this was very well put together and conscience. Hope to see more horror related analysis from you soon. You seem to have a knack for it! :D
As a fellow horror snob I can confirm I definitely will be making horror-related analyses in the future. :D
@@Cresendex Horror snob gang
Has to be said: by far the best video and explanation about liminal spaces ever. Not even needed a second one.
An interesting point as well in the topic of something/an idea outgrowing it’s original meaning was the song “It’s just a burning memory” by the caretakers about the dreadful progression of Alzheimer’s disease. (played in 18:26) I remember when first hearing this song at night. It gave me a sense of discomfort, uneasiness. Just from the audio slowly being distorted: to the remnant of someone trying to remember- all until they’ve forgotten themselves and who they are. Now, I’ve heard this song countless times in random videos about things that aren’t even related to it all. Every time I hear the song now, i just think of a crappy liminal back rooms video, or a dumb shltpost.
It's been memed but I don't think it's lost it's original values.
@@Cresendex It all comes to personal opinion, I can’t listen to the song the same anymore without thinking of a meme
It’s become the inverse for me, where I first saw the memes and later listened to eateot. The experience was bordering traumatic tbh, since losing control of my mind is one of my most harrowing fears. Hearing any of the songs from the collection is anxiety inducing, and hearing it in any other context (a video essay or a dumb meme) brings that dread back. Highly effective.
In a way, eateot could be treated like liminal horror. The whole album is the in-between gradient as your whole being decays from the inside out. The dread is off the horror of what’s to come, but isn’t there yet. The fear is of something absent. The horror is the irreversibility, inevitably, and the long, slow decline into despair. At that point, death becomes a mercy.
This was probably the best liminal space video i have seen. Thank you
1:59 hey, that's the Watterson's home from Gumball.
Every now and then I return to this video, I rewatch it, it reminds me of every time I’ve watched it, the memories I’ve made since then, days of school, how it felt to get home, when I layed in my bed watching this on my tv, what I had been doing that day, I have memory issues so this means a lot, thank you❤
0:03 bro I remember being there in a dream
Same
Same😊
"I got Rick rolled liminally" is not a sentence I thought I'd ever type and yet... 9:31
Yo! This is well put together and im excited to see what youll post in the future
Thank you! A new video is coming soon. :)
This video should get more views. The way he explains things is phenomenal and everything in this video is Calming and also give's you an uneasy feeling.
you just made me realize why i feel the way i do about American Psycho and honestly a bunch of other media. Thank You!
Liminality is the explanation for a lot of things, especially in media, I mean if you think about it, the events of a movie/show is the liminal stage of that movie/show.
@@Cresendex I’ve always felt that way about a lot of stuff I’ve watched in the past and never pinned it on liminality, great video, super glad I watched it!
@@Alexplain_Later I'm glad you enjoyed!
This is beautifully made, so thorough and so well-thought out. You’ve elucidated ideas I’ve had in my own head but never fully realised. Subscribed!
how you only have 76 subs is beyond me, great video man 🎉
Thanks, more to come in the future!
9:00 "in a way, dreams are the original liminal spaces" holy crap that line gave me goosebumps
Let’s noclip to backrooms while listening to this🥱 good night😴
Especialy poolrooms I visit the most😅
@3:19 Why do I have the remote control in my hand.
i RUSHED to the comments to see if anyone else also... had a remote in their hands 😅
@DayVivid-s5s 🤣😂🤣😂
There’s something about this I can’t describe. On one hand, I get unsettled when I see this thought of an alternative reality. On the other hand, it gives me nostalgia from a time when I was terrified of these, making me almost crave it.
this is beautifully put together
I like looking at liminal space images sometimes, they just give me a certain feeling of peace in this world. I must say though, this was a great watch, you deserve every view you're getting and more.
So simple. So cheesy. So icky-sweet.
But the truth: Love is the cure.
The experience of (and tolerance/increased comfort with, and endurance of) liminal space is essential to our growth, but part of the power (and intrigue and attraction) of the liminal is that it highlights how truly fundamental is our need for human connection.
Bro. Incredible video. Really dig how scientifically you approached & stylistically presented the topic
I think Kane pulls off the perfect mix. You're there long enough and they're large enough that you're unlikely to encounter something, but a day or week into staggering through and you bump into something? And it's hostile? It's just a little bit of elevation because it eventually does confirm the fears your mind made up days ago.
I hate pretty much all of the other monsters and all of the different added levels because it weakens that uncanny feeling. If you're going to add a monster to a liminal space, it should be so rare that you wonder if it even exists.
Just give the person hints rather than outright confirming, much better for what this type of horror is going for.
Agree! Kane definitely made a perfect mix, I didn’t mind the backrooms at first, but it slowly started to become similar to a survival horror with almond water and the like, which I think definitely lessened the original fear.
Found this video last year and I keep coming back. I don’t always finish it but the video itself gives me the liminal feeling that I’m always looking for. The entire vibe is fantastic. Thank you
I can remember going to a old mall in Yakima. I went with my dad to and old sears that was closing down, they were still selling things like fridges and other home appliances but while me and my dad silently walked the halls of the mall, it was just so liminal, I felt as if I was there before, it was dark out so there was no one there. I remember looking at the walls and other closed mini shops and empty venders the silence was broken by my dad's voice " up there, there was an old paint ball coarse. But now it's gone and I heard it was left to rot, I used to go there all the time " I thought for a moment about this and I thought why this was so uncanny . now I understand, it was a place full of life now it's empty, children would scream from excitement and now it was left here like it was lost in time. I completely remember there being a grand piano just in the corner of an intersection of the mall I found it odd and a little creepy. but now from what I know it is all just a memory, a memory that is seen and told by those who experienced it.
I once went to an Ikea and had a similar experience, hardly anyone was in the store, and I got lost and just wandered, eventually I circled back to where I started, the whole thing made me feel so weird.
Liminal spaces are a perfect example of what the uncanny represents: a familiar place that feels strangely unfamiliar. In this case, the tension is created by having no people there. I use to roam my old school corridors after everyone had gone home (I attended the school library sometimes), and even at the age of 15, I felt this atmosphere. 30 years later, it finally has a name!
I forgot what the place at 4:52 is but I've been to it for a school fieldtrip in elementary school. It basically a place where children can simulate working a job and various kids can participate in the process of working each job for a day (probably a fee hours)
The best way I’ve heard liminal spaces described went like this: Liminal spaces are transitional spaces. This means that it feels to you brain like they only exist for a brief moment in your life when it’s to your convenience. This is why it’s so fascinating to picture their existence without the important aspect of your presence. Or… any presence.
this is a really good video, thanks for making it. i didnt really know much about the liminal spaces sorta trend but you explained it really well!
but in a way, i was really uncomfortable the whole time watching this. something about liminal spaces makes me sick to my stomach. being alone in a big space makes me feel like a helpless little child, and being alone in a space that doesnt make sense can make me feel like im going insane.
but at the same time, i used to be so drawn to the backrooms. like, i cannot for the life of me imagine something scarier than being trapped there forever, yet for a few days last year i couldnt stop watching backrooms videos and imagining they were real. and the intriguing part wasnt the entities, it was the existential dread.
fucking weird right? i dont get it - how liminal spaces feel like one of our worst nightmares, but we HAVE to think about them. why do we want to feel like we're not in control and reality isnt what it's supposed to be? maybe i'll come back to this video again if i understand someday.
I think it's the same reason we are drawn to horror films, and horror games, wandering through The Backrooms is a scary thought because it flies in the face of expectation. No entities, nothing to fear, simply wandering forever, a type of horror that has yet to be provided.
This is amazingly written - you managed to put feelings into words that I had trouble even coming up with. Scrolling through the comments I couldn’t find anyone who felt the same visceral fear as me, so it was a relief finding yours!
@@rid4aleem this made my day, thanks :))
Brother, your video is so inspiring, I rewatched some specific phrases like “Maybe all things just don’t make sense right now. But… that’s ok.” 3 or 4 times I a row., cause they are so relatable. Tgank you for your talent and passion to bring us this piece of video essay art.
this video was really well done. i can tell you did your research and when i say research i dont mean the regular kind, i mean diving deep into the thought of what a liminal space can bring and why its not only so comforting but when theres a great deal of nostalgia behind it . Liminal spaces for me give a great deal a comfort like you said in the intro. its somewhere where you can sit and think and remember the good old days
Liminal spaces are more of the physical embodiment of the good old days.
with this video, you just earned a subscriber, that ending made me tear up
BRO WHAT??? THATS MY SCHOOL AT 1:34 WHO SUBMITTED THAT PIC??
MIKA IS THAT YOU MIKA FROM 9 COMPASSION COUSIN OF MY DEAREST BOYFRIEND JC?
hi manresan what section are you
oh my goodness, finally i've watched this video after many months. this was awesome, really
this is so interesting and calming to listen to all the information about liminal spaces, backrooms and that's literally one of that little amount of vids about liminality which are really touching and comfortable to watch
I find them very soothing. I want to live in them and stay.
6:54
"Places that seem to be designed without purpose or function.
They exist simply to exist"
This is how I've felt for most of my life.
Life itself is a liminal space between non-existence
1:35
I've been there!!! That's hemisfair park in San Antonio!! It was this amazing wooden playground that felt like a maze as a little kid! You could literally get lost in it as a kid, especially being so small. I think they've since torn it down, but it was incredibly fun!!!
i've also been here in russia 10 years ago. probably just a common playground design
This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen. Kudos.
It’s the unsettling feeling of remembering it but not knowing what it is yk broski
Exactly, liminal spaces are such a weird side of horror, some might even argue it isn't even horror in the traditional sense.
As someone who’s fascinated with both writing and liminal spaces I decided I should do my own take and write a book on them while focusing in on the isolation and torment that comes from being alone in such places, using the idea of monsters as a means to make it so the protagonist never truly feels alone despite not showing them visibly.
I basically want to see if I can somehow make an intriguing plot about someone searching for a lost friend that still captures the art that the original gave
please please write that book you are mentioning writing I would buy it in a heart beat dear @Bayyri.
The backrooms stuff became really cringe and mediocre as the trend grew, but the liminal spaces is the real deal
My analysis on Liminal Spaces: They’re not supposed to be scary or haunting, they just give us a feeling of nostalgia despite the fact that we probably never saw these places. It’s just that they still feel familiar regardless.
Excellent video, minor nitpick. The backrooms lore was actually a thing before Kane’s video, and it was perfect. The landscape was better and wasn’t ruined by children yet. After Kane’s video the mainstream picked it up and ruined it in my opinion.
This guy needs more subscribers , just subbed my guy! Keep going!
OBS : Probably the best explanation video of liminal spaces I've seen , congrats!
At one point during the video, ballroom music can be heard. Can someone explain why I find ballroom music absolutely unnerving? I don't know if it's because I watched "The Shining" as a kid, or because it's just kind of old-timey sounding. But I seriously find ballroom music unsettling, and I really liked it being combined with the photos in this video. To me, that's like the "ultimate" liminal space: think Backrooms, but with endless ballroom music playing. Every time you think you're getting close to the source, nope, it just keeps fading away and playing on and on.
Could be that it evokes a sort of haunted feeling of isolation and a distant time. An eerie sense of anemoia if you will.
This is my favorite video from this guy's channel and this is also my favorite video on UA-cam in general.
No joke at 1:24 with the wooden playground. Looking at that made me shake, because I had been there before, multiple times...
What are you talking about?
What
I've found it surprisingly difficult to talk this about myself, and this is a beautiful explanation of the concept. I seem to come back to this video occasionally, and it's only a year old. Good job.
Not one million views yet, not 100 thousand subscribers yet, one year old, I was here one year ago
i found this channel today, and after binge watching i subscribed. thank you for making this incredible content, please keep making more ❤
9:31 I got liminalled
"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down"
When I was younger, I had to attend to extra classes on the weekend in my school, which sounds like a hassle, but seeing the school devoid of people, entering the now empty classroom gave me a feeling of freedom and tranquillity like no other place ever had, I remember trying to explain this feeling to my classmates, but they would always look at me like they couldn't understand what was so interesting of an empty school, I tought that this feeling was something that just me felt. I got a glimpse of this feeling again when the "backrooms" poped up some years ago, but, like you said, it doesn't feel the same thanks to the creatures that roam that liminal space. Now I know why exploring Gmod on an empty map or the city of mirrors edge (just 1, mirrors edge 2 has a lot of cars and people on the street) look like so facinating to me. Thank you for this video, very informative and fun to watch.
9:31 we got Rick rolled.
Yep lmao 🤣
I wanted to say, you beat me😅
Never gonna give you up
I find liminal spaces strangely comforting. I feel "safe" in the thoughts that they provoke.
Me and my friend went to a mall, it was almost empty, all the stores were open an had employees in them but not alot of shoppers
Probably a dead mall, revisit it in a few years and it might even be completely abandoned.
@@Cresendex maby
I absolutely love the idea that life is a liminal space between birth and death. Also thanks for your insight on the American Psycho, I've never thought about it this way and it kind of makes sense.
The dashcon ball pit threw me and sent me into hysterics, not gonna lie
right like who called tagged it as a liminal space. i need to pick their brain
I love whoever can articulate very well about Liminal spaces. It's a hard concept and vibe to explain perfectly. Somehow, these subjective experiences of individuals are not that unique. We all shared some of the same qualities. Also, the music choices are very fitting. good video!
2:38 Were all living in liminality
Hella great line
The first time I've actually seriously listened to a video and didn't skip any part of it, wow