Why is the Out of Bounds so Terrifying?

Spoooky

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
1:31 - Human Limits
3:02 - don't leave the room
9:14 - Vacant Rooms
19:32 - Conclusions
21:11 - patreon e-begging

It seems you have reached the bottom of the description. Welcome! Enjoy your stay as long as you like.

[floob]

out of bounds is so terrifying becuase if I drop my hamburger it is gone

[Apvizionz]

As a child I had the idea to turn and look backwards during parts of The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It was a whole different world back there. I could see the lights, the color gels, the fog machines, service doors, and animatronic figures going dead after they're no longer in view (if facing forward). This was my first experience seeing the out of bounds. I became obsessed with the idea of getting out of the car during dark rides and exploring behind the scenes.

[nekoanimation]

I used to get scared of minecraft when playing on peaceful. When the music finally ends, the silence with only the sound of my footsteps would terrify me and i would always play music to fill that emptiness.

[macfreak]

I think there's one thing terrifying you didn't notice/mention.

If you keep going into the void of nothingness, there's a good chance you'll get lost. Trying to go back seems reasonable until you realize a hairpin turn sends you in a completely different direction... since it's a game it's fine but imagine getting that lost irl, like being lost at sea but worse.

[ocicvcx]

The abyss in Subnautica terrified me more than any other location in the game, and there wasn’t even anything there

[Mgrom-rc]

“There’s a point where the idea of a monster becomes less scary than the lack of one.”
This is what made the backrooms so terrifying, but now it’s a damn tourist attraction with “entities” or whatever.

[PTNLemay]

It's kind of like looking beneath you while you're in the ocean and not being able to see the bottom. It's undeniably spooky

[peblezQ]

I feel like that scene with Squidward in the void with Alone repeating until he goes insane perfectly encapsulates the feeling youre trying to describe here.

[HE]

What makes out of bounds scary to me is the loss of connection.
No one is there to talk to or help. It's a mix of the fear of the unknown and the fear of being left behind in solitude.

[GigaChadBarbie]

Growing up in a city surrounded my mountains I always had a border to ground me in reality, the first time I went to the Midwest and saw how flat it was I felt like if I walked far enough I could fall off the world.

[xKiNx]

I used to lead groups out of bounds in Lord of the Rings Online. The different reactions from awe and appreciation, to absolute fear really stuck with me. We all knew it was just a game, but when you take a multiple thousand-hours character to the edge of "reality" there can be an overwhelming wave of dread.
Honestly as good as a game is, seeing what you shouldn't will always be my favorite part.

I wish more developers would embrace the void without making it accessible. Guild wars 2 with all those very well-hidden Jumping Puzzles are some of the best electronic experiences I have ever had.

I have a somewhat recurring dream of falling out of bounds. After awhile ghostly shapes start to form. Behind them, and impossibly gargantuan malevolent face slowly grows.

Maybe I'm broken, but those dreams make me feel so alive. Wonder and dread holing hands into the abyss.

Dam I started rambling again... Sorry!

[discomug]

You know, the backrooms were scarier before the monsters were made part of it. Because what makes the backrooms scary is that you are completely alone, there is nothing To focus on, nothing To do, just endless corridors and rooms. Even if there were monsters To be scared of, it just replaces the horror of lonelyness with horror of something that can kill you. Making it just a normal horror game. In my opinion.
1.1k likes, I have never ever gotten this much. Thank you! :)

[carloandresl]

Seeing a picture of a liminal space reminds me of visiting school at night.

A place you normally see full of life is nothing but emptiness. Unnerving in a sense.

[Chad_Thundercock]

The single biggest skin crawl for me came from Duke Nukem 3D.

Using noclip, an early teenage me discovered the ability to transcend what was meant to be explored, only to stumble upon "You're not supposed to be here."
Suddenly, it was made clear that the authority I thought I was defying, was right there with me, beyond what was supposed to be.

[LeTtRrZ]

Out of bounds areas never really scared me. They fascinated me. I loved seeing how elaborate yet fickle the illusions were, as well as the different approaches to crafting them. It was like a weird incarnation of the allegory of the cave. I guess that contributed to my love of science since early childhood. In a way, I want to find the universe’s out of bounds and see what it’s like.

[kloogsisconfident]

When I was a kid I was scared of the basement, I couldn't really tell you why I was scared of it. Just that I was. Looking back, I now realize that it was a place filled with the dark and damp, an uneasy settling feeling for a child. Things we normally don't like or don't need. Some people have their laundry machines there, some use it for storage, but regardless rarely is a basement a regular place that you go in your house. At least that's what my child brain believed. So of course my mind made up stories of what could be in the basement aside from just clothes and Christmas ornaments you only pull out once a year. Now unlike a liminal photograph there is a sign of humanity in a basement through. Those things you keep there, but it's eerie in its own right because they are things that were discarded. Or devalued, if only for a time. Like the abandoned house that has no life but a history of one. The stairs leading down as a child felt like you were entering the out of bounds. A place you shouldn't be. It's not cheerful, it's simple basic function is to put the things you don't want to see on a regular basis. Sometimes it would feel like the items left there were depressed because they knew they were not as useful as the things upstairs. There's a reason why we all fear the basement subconsciously. We pause in horror games when we have to descend stairs into a basement level or area. We know that something could be lurking. Why is that? Why are we all so scared of a basement? Is it because we know deep down that the only things that go down there are the undesirables? Is it because every story we have read has said for some reason that the scariest of monsters lurk there? Or is it just because the true out of bounds are the things we choose not to think about. Our anxieties. The limitations we put on ourselves to branch out into the unknown. Outside our comfort zone. As a kid we choose not to enter those "scary" places purely because we are made to believe or have convinced ourselves they are scary. The mice however view the basement as their comfort. Maybe to them our bedroom is the out of bounds because they know they will get caught or killed. The only nightmares in the out of bounds are the ones we conjur up. Regardless though, every time I enter a basement my heart still skips a beat. Even as an adult. The mind is really good at playing tricks, but how do you know your mind is playing tricks if it's convinced you the tricks are real? What if there is something down there? In the basement, it has been all along.

[roccoleader]

Out of bounds is much worse in vr, the endless void and everything familiar just fading away until you are left in pure darkness

[pixelator]

i always thought the escape pod ending HAD to be intentional, seeing as how the door you need to backpedal through quickly is the only place in the game where you can do that, the narrator instantly goes silent instead of, say, finishing his line, and the eerie feeling it gives off is so strong that i figured it was deliberately crafted to make you feel that way, similarly to other moments like the games ending

[Returnality]

For me the scariest thing about out of bounds in the complete lack of control and predictability. Thinking of OG Pokémon glitches in particular, it’s like reality stops working. The laws of physics no longer apply and your actions no longer have any power. You just have to watch as the world crumbles and eventually, your existence along with it.

[andrewarez]

This video essay is so good. Opened it in a hurry to add to “watch history” to continue later and I just couldn’t turn it off until the end.. I fell out of bounds of my own impatience and I really glad about it