When you step into a place that feels familiar and strangely wrong at the same time — a place that hums with eerie stillness — you’ve entered a liminal space.
Liminal spaces are locations caught between worlds: empty hotel corridors at 3 AM, abandoned malls, foggy parking lots, flickering pool rooms. They stir something in us because they feel like the backdrop of a dream… or a nightmare.
In this post, we’ll explore what liminal spaces are, why they haunt our imaginations, and how you can start creating your own haunted environments for art, writing, or game design.
🌘 What is a Liminal Space?
The word liminal comes from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold. A liminal space is a place of transition — it exists between what was and what will be.
Think of:
- A school hallway at night, after the kids are gone
- A gas station glowing under harsh lights at midnight
- An empty airport terminal with no flights left that night
These spaces feel unsettling because they are designed to be filled with people and activity. When they are empty, they become a stage for our imaginations — and our fears.
🌑 Why Are We Drawn to Liminal Spaces?
There’s a reason liminal spaces have exploded in popularity in art, photography, and horror games. These spaces:
- Evoke nostalgia and a strange sense of memory
- Feel familiar but alien at the same time
- Leave room for your mind to wander and create stories
Whether you’re an artist, writer, or game designer, liminal spaces provide a rich canvas for eerie creations.
👻 How to Create Your Own Haunted Liminal Spaces
✅ Start with a setting. Pick a place designed for people, but empty. Examples: a locker room, hotel lobby, underground parking garage.
✅ Distort the details. Add flickering lights, too much fog, warped proportions, or surreal elements like doors that go nowhere.
✅ Play with color. Muted palettes with pops of sickly green, buzzing neon, or cold blue create mood.
✅ Use AI prompts or mood boards. If you’re using AI tools, try prompts like:
“An abandoned indoor swimming pool, 1980s style, flickering ceiling lights, deep shadows, nostalgic and unsettling atmosphere”
👉 Looking for inspiration? Check out my Liminal Spaces Generator Prompt Pack or Haunted Location Prompts to start building your own eerie scenes.
🌙 Final Thoughts
Liminal spaces remind us of the in-between places we don’t always notice — until they’re empty and echoing. Whether you’re creating haunted art, writing spooky stories, or building game environments, these spaces are a perfect starting point for building unease.
💀 Want more? Explore my shop for digital prompt packs, printable art, and merch inspired by the liminal and the lost.
