Trying to find an old tumblr post I used to see a lot.
It started with someone listing "places with uncanny energy," like gas stations on a road trip, empty movie theaters, etc.
Then someone reblogged it and said those are called "liminal spaces," defining liminal as in-between, neither one thing nor another.
It was the first time I'd seen the term "liminal" applied to places like that, and it's driving me crazy, I want to find and put a date on it so bad.
NEVER MIND, I FOUND IT!!!
Holy shit I just realized:
Tomorrow (July 4th, 2026) is the 10 year anniversary of the-crepes-of-wrath's comment, which:
Predates the 2020 spike in interest by four years
Predates the original backrooms post, and the the creation of r/liminalspaces by three years
Predates the earliest mention that KnowYourMeme attributes to Twitter by two years
I'm pretty sure this is the moment the term "liminal spaces" was attached to this sort of imagery, and it's TEN YEARS OLD TOMORROW!
LIMINAL SPACES TURN TEN TOMORROW! CELEBRATE BY GETTING LOST IN AN ABANDONED MALL!
This reminds me of some articles that were written about how Tumblr discourse and talking points end up getting adopted by the wider Internet and general culture.
Here's one about Tumblr trans discourse. And another. And another.
Here's another about Tumblr political discourse. And another.
Here's a massive book about Tumblr communities. Many of the chapters will also include irl spillover from their digital counterparts.
Here's an article on how Tiktok discourse is just repeats of Tumblr discourse.
