An Unsettling Collection of Creepy Memes and Liminal Spaces

Ada Elder

Dec 29, 2021 9:00 PM EST

Empty shopping malls and supermarkets. Long and dimly lit caverns filled with water. Fluorescent-lit corridors that seem to have no end. What do they have in common? They're what the internet's aesthetic experts refer to as "liminal spaces." You don't hear the term every day unless you're terminally online, but author Richard Rohr explains it well:

"where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. There alone is our old world left behind, while we are not yet sure of the new existence. That's a good space where genuine newness can begin. Get there often and stay as long as you can by whatever means possible…This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don't encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy."

In less words, liminal spaces make you feel a visceral mix of familiarity and emotional apprehension. They lend themselves well to cursed images and creepy memes - two of our favorite types of content to peruse when everything just feels blah. In that spirit, we humbly present you with this collection of weird, surreal, and eerie memes, places, and things. It's important to remember there's more to the internet (and the world) than bad takes and relatable memes. Sometimes it's just straight up bizarre.