‘Dreamcore’ and the indirect influence of Thomas Ligotti’s philosophy.

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Recently, on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, an aesthetic—or perhaps a cultural movement—known as Dreamcore has emerged. It centers on dreams viewed through liminal perspectives, unsettling imagery, and images that resemble memories whose origin we cannot quite recall. These short videos or clips are usually accompanied by ambient music characteristic of the movement, which by itself conveys a distinctly oneiric atmosphere. Beyond this, they often carry strong messages about the limitations of consciousness, adopting a deeply introspective focus on the human condition, the use of reason, and the ways in which dreams explore trauma and manifest it through images.

I am not sure whether any of you use Instagram—I do, though I do not have TikTok—but even so, I have come across several of these videos, or reels. What they convey resonates strongly with the philosophy of Thomas Ligotti, as well as with his recurring imaginary: puppets, the uncanny valley, madness—it feels strange, unsettling. Yet it is always framed through a dreamlike and introspective lens, approached in an existential manner.

As mentioned, this movement has a clear focus: the exploration of the personal psyche at a oneiric level. It almost never adopts a positive outlook; pessimism predominates, and in some cases it makes striking statements that closely resemble what Thomas Ligotti referred to as “Negation” in The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. The use of AI-generated images and videos has also influenced the liminal imaginary of this movement, further intensifying its sense of unreality and psychological dislocation.

Had you heard of Dreamcore before?

Just as H. P. Lovecraft may have directly or indirectly influenced the thinking of past generations, I feel that, in a similarly indirect way, Thomas Ligotti’s philosophy has influenced contemporary generations. This influence also highlights the current zeitgeist, revealing much about the state of society today.

 

[Rosemary]

I used Instagram a lot before I decided to delete nearly all of my socials but I have also discovered Dreamcore about 3 or 4 years ago and I love this aesthetic. I wouldn't call it a "cultural movement" per say because it's still pretty niche, but it's definitely a fascinating setting for horror. Of course, like everything born on the internet, this setting is copypasted everywhere with projects of varying quality, but the core ideas and atmosphere are brilliant.

I agree with you that there are some similarities with the uncaniness of Ligotti's works and philosophy, but I feel like Dreamcore is generally a bit more "cheerful". I would call that "whimsical nihilism" in the sense that, in this setting, life is meaningless, potentially horrible, but it has become the norm, so why not try to make it fun? Make it as bright and colorful as possible? The imagery is generally extremely childlike, with much darker twists here and there, like shadows and eyes. I didn't see a lot of puppets though. You can't have it all!

This is the only setting where I find the use of AI interesting. Despite my conviction that this device is an environmental and social nightmare, generated images and videos does have a dreamlike quality. I'm thinking of the works of Solar W in particular. I didn't bother to look up the others "artists" and I don't think I will.

Weirdly enough, I think the dreamcore creator who could be the closest to Ligotti philosophically is Stanzi Potenza. She doesn't make a lot of dreamcore videos, but when she does, it hits really close to home. Like this one.
My personal favourite is Ashur Gharavi, who made excellent short horror clips involving murderous TV hosts, cursed toys and the daily life of a silent psychopathic giant flower and his boyfriend with too many eyes. Excellent stuff.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

A post I made on Twitter:

A few days ago I mentioned the new perspectives young people are bringing to horror, with a liminal, oneiric approach and a strong emotional introspection about what it means to be human. I believe events like the Epstein case are deeply shaping what horror will become in the future. You can see it everywhere young people gather: they realize that the true horror lies within the human race, not in fictional monsters. There is an indirect influence of Thomas Ligotti in this, but a quick look at TikTok or Instagram is enough to notice these emerging approaches to horror.

 

[Zaharoff]

 

[kurkasi1]

Recently, on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, an aesthetic—or perhaps a cultural movement—known as Dreamcore has emerged. It centers on dreams viewed through liminal perspectives, unsettling imagery, and images that resemble memories whose origin we cannot quite recall. These short videos or clips are usually accompanied by ambient music characteristic of the movement, which by itself conveys a distinctly oneiric atmosphere. Beyond this, they often carry strong messages about the limitations of consciousness, adopting a deeply introspective focus on the human condition, the use of reason, and the ways in which dreams explore trauma and manifest it through images.

I am not sure whether any of you use Instagram—I do, though I do not have TikTok—but even so, I have come across several of these videos, or reels. What they convey resonates strongly with the philosophy of Thomas Ligotti, as well as with his recurring imaginary: puppets, the uncanny valley, madness—it feels strange, unsettling. Yet it is always framed through a dreamlike and introspective lens, approached in an existential manner.

As mentioned, this movement has a clear focus: the exploration of the personal psyche at a oneiric level. It almost never adopts a positive outlook; pessimism predominates, and in some cases it makes striking statements that closely resemble what Thomas Ligotti referred to as “Negation” in The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. The use of AI-generated images and videos has also influenced the liminal imaginary of this movement, further intensifying its sense of unreality and psychological dislocation.

Had you heard of Dreamcore before?

Just as H. P. Lovecraft may have directly or indirectly influenced the thinking of past generations, I feel that, in a similarly indirect way, Thomas Ligotti’s philosophy has influenced contemporary generations. This influence also highlights the current zeitgeist, revealing much about the state of society today.



Mijn fiets werd gisteren gestolen voor het station in Amsterdam en ik had echt geen geld voor een nieuwe e-bike. Ik moest opeens alles lopen in de regen. Uit pure verveling downloadde ik de carlospin app op mijn telefoon. Tot mijn grote verbazing won ik een enorm bedrag waarmee ik direct een gloednieuwe elektrische fiets kocht, waardoor mijn dagelijkse ritjes nu veel sneller gaan

This is a fantastic observation. I hadn't explicitly connected the 'Dreamcore' label to Ligotti before, but the parallel is undeniable. The whole aesthetic feels like a direct visual translation of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race—especially that overwhelming sense of 'Negation' and the uncanny realization that we might just be biological puppets navigating a meaningless architecture.

I've actually been spending a lot of time lately generating AI videos to build out dark, gritty lore content, and it's fascinating how easily the algorithms lean into this exact liminal territory. When you push the AI or give it ambiguous prompts, it naturally produces these distorted, vaguely familiar spaces and deformed figures that trigger pure existential dread. It’s almost as if the digital subconscious naturally defaults to a Ligottian nightmare.

You're spot on about this reflecting the current zeitgeist. The fact that millions are resonating with this bleak, disorienting imagery on platforms designed for quick entertainment says a lot about our collective psychological state right now. It's a very visceral, modern way of expressing deep alienation. Do you think the creators of these Dreamcore videos are consciously channeling these pessimistic philosophies, or is it just an organic reaction to the modern world?

 

[Athammaus]

I just LOVE Pogo. Have collected Walt Kelly for many years.

One of my favorite Pogo quotes:
"Don't take life so all-fire serious, boy. It ain't no ways permanent."

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

This is a fantastic observation. I hadn't explicitly connected the 'Dreamcore' label to Ligotti before, but the parallel is undeniable. The whole aesthetic feels like a direct visual translation of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race—especially that overwhelming sense of 'Negation' and the uncanny realization that we might just be biological puppets navigating a meaningless architecture.

I've actually been spending a lot of time lately generating AI videos to build out dark, gritty lore content, and it's fascinating how easily the algorithms lean into this exact liminal territory. When you push the AI or give it ambiguous prompts, it naturally produces these distorted, vaguely familiar spaces and deformed figures that trigger pure existential dread. It’s almost as if the digital subconscious naturally defaults to a Ligottian nightmare.

You're spot on about this reflecting the current zeitgeist. The fact that millions are resonating with this bleak, disorienting imagery on platforms designed for quick entertainment says a lot about our collective psychological state right now. It's a very visceral, modern way of expressing deep alienation. Do you think the creators of these Dreamcore videos are consciously channeling these pessimistic philosophies, or is it just an organic reaction to the modern world?

I believe it is an organic reaction of the current generations to what life is like today.

 

[watkins13]

I was just thinking about this comparison the other day after reading "The Mystics of Muelenburg" again. Some of the descriptions in that story have a similarity to modern popular horror memes like The Backrooms.

 

[Rosemary]

I was just thinking about this comparison the other day after reading "The Mystics of Muelenburg" again. Some of the descriptions in that story have a similarity to modern popular horror memes like The Backrooms.

I need to refresh my memory about this particular short story. For me, the most striking similarity between Ligotti's works and the concept of backrooms can be found in My Work is Not Yet Done, when Chipman gets stuck in an endless labyrinth of doors.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Now that the Backrooms have gone mainstream, the online literary collective on Wikidot dedicated to them will probably see an influx of people. To top it off, Hollywood is now looking for stories on Reddit following the success of Backrooms. It's amazing that something that originated on 4chan has grown to such an extent. I haven't seen the movie, and I have no interest in doing so.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I need to refresh my memory about this particular short story. For me, the most striking similarity between Ligotti's works and the concept of backrooms can be found in My Work is Not Yet Done, when Chipman gets stuck in an endless labyrinth of doors.

Thomas Ligotti's work bears strong similarities to the Backrooms, especially if we start from the premise established by the original online literary collective. That's why I would describe his influence as indirect, since I doubt many people in that community are familiar with Ligotti's work. Essentially, both involve a kind of liminalization, strongly marked by characters who often find themselves trapped between waking life and dreams.

On the other hand, there is the concept of the Backrooms as an "other dimension" (not in the physical sense) in a way that perhaps Lovecraft might have approached it. The mythology includes numerous sub-levels, as well as various interest groups or factions operating within it. Across these different levels, geometry changes constantly, and that is where reality itself begins to distort.

I'll leave you the official Backrooms site in case you're interested. There is a great deal of material by different authors to read. Personally, I don't find it as compelling as SCP, but it's definitely worth knowing about.

The Backrooms Wiki - The Backrooms

Documenting the levels, entities, objects and phenomena of the Backrooms. You've been here before.

backrooms-wiki.wikidot.com

 

[Grave Acolyte]

Recently, on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, an aesthetic—or perhaps a cultural movement—known as Dreamcore has emerged. It centers on dreams viewed through liminal perspectives, unsettling imagery, and images that resemble memories whose origin we cannot quite recall. These short videos or clips are usually accompanied by ambient music characteristic of the movement, which by itself conveys a distinctly oneiric atmosphere. Beyond this, they often carry strong messages about the limitations of consciousness, adopting a deeply introspective focus on the human condition, the use of reason, and the ways in which dreams explore trauma and manifest it through images.

I am not sure whether any of you use Instagram—I do, though I do not have TikTok—but even so, I have come across several of these videos, or reels. What they convey resonates strongly with the philosophy of Thomas Ligotti, as well as with his recurring imaginary: puppets, the uncanny valley, madness—it feels strange, unsettling. Yet it is always framed through a dreamlike and introspective lens, approached in an existential manner.

As mentioned, this movement has a clear focus: the exploration of the personal psyche at a oneiric level. It almost never adopts a positive outlook; pessimism predominates, and in some cases it makes striking statements that closely resemble what Thomas Ligotti referred to as “Negation” in The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. The use of AI-generated images and videos has also influenced the liminal imaginary of this movement, further intensifying its sense of unreality and psychological dislocation.

Had you heard of Dreamcore before?

Just as H. P. Lovecraft may have directly or indirectly influenced the thinking of past generations, I feel that, in a similarly indirect way, Thomas Ligotti’s philosophy has influenced contemporary generations. This influence also highlights the current zeitgeist, revealing much about the state of society today.

It's something I had thought about more than once, and I thought I was the only one who had this intuition. Generally, I'm not a big fan of using AI when it comes to making videos (only as an experiment to have some fun), but there are some dreamcore videos that evoke a very strange nostalgia. They are almost like soft, low-effect drugs for those kinds of sensations. Compared to Ligotti's work, most of them seem more 'sugar-coated' to me, except for a few where his favorite settings are actually shown: ruined carousels, fairground corridors, etc. But I think the connection is more on the surface than in the message. At least from what I've seen, it seems to me that the 'dreamcore' aesthetic points toward a more escapist philosophy.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

It's something I had thought about more than once, and I thought I was the only one who had this intuition. Generally, I'm not a big fan of using AI when it comes to making videos (only as an experiment to have some fun), but there are some dreamcore videos that evoke a very strange nostalgia. They are almost like soft, low-effect drugs for those kinds of sensations. Compared to Ligotti's work, most of them seem more 'sugar-coated' to me, except for a few where his favorite settings are actually shown: ruined carousels, fairground corridors, etc. But I think the connection is more on the surface than in the message. At least from what I've seen, it seems to me that the 'dreamcore' aesthetic points toward a more escapist philosophy.

Dreamcore does aspire to escapism, but that doesn't always manifest in a positive way; depending on the approach, it can sometimes become deeply existential. Otherwise, it is generally a more "healthy" form of escapism. That said, many videos of a similar nature—not necessarily connected to dreamcore itself, but rather to liminal concepts—still retain an atmosphere reminiscent of Thomas Ligotti.

 

[Rosemary]

@watkins13 > I have read the summary of The Mystics of Muelenberg on Taskerland (sadly didn't have the time to read the full short story again) and the premise of an altered town that also affects its inhabitants is quite reminescent of the concept of the backrooms. You were right to point that out. I can see that in this quote "all places and things bore evidence to striking revisions in the base realm of matter [...]".

@R. von Pnaklendorf > I knew about the backrooms beforehand, but I hadn't delved too deep into the wiki because I'm not a huge fan of factions and monsters. It would make a decent tabletop rpg though. I like the idea of a maze of infinite locations (except those taking place in nature, which defies the whole purpuse of the backrooms as a twisted reflection of human-made spaces imo) but I think we should leave the many creepy creatures to the SCP Foundation.
I feel like Kane Parson's interpretation is a lot more subtle. I have watched his Youtube series and the movie now and I thought he kept a good balance. I'm going to keep my thoughts under spoilers for those who are planning to watch Kane Parson's works:

Spoiler

In both the series and film, you have this idea of a gigantic, probably infinite space that tries to replicate human-made rooms and buildings. I saw that as a sort of culmination of the idea of liminality, in the sense that these spaces are designed by humans for humans to be in. But when you take out the humans and let something else get in charge, it gets uncanny, unnatural and you just feel exposed and vulnerable evolving in this labyrinth where you cannot eat or drink and slowly lose your sanity. I saw that as a metaphor of places generated by capitalism, where everything starts looking the same, destroys land necessary for the production of ressources, that will end up being empty spaces when the people won't be able to afford them (I'm thinking of shopping malls and suburban houses in particular).
The film adds an interesting element (that I felt could have been more developed) : Still Lifes, very similar to doppelgangers. Not only the backrooms create an idea of human-made spaces, but they also create an idea of a human. So, when a person enters the backrooms, or lives in the proximity of an entrance, a Still Life is formed. In the film, I saw a direct paralel with Thomas Ligotti's works when Clark (the main character) rejoices at the fact that these entities feel no pain, no anxiety, they have no ego and just exist. There are also a couple of mannequins both in the real world and the backrooms that serves as an introduction to those Still Lives.

@Mersennus1951 Dreamcore is totally a form of escapism. I feel it's even more linked to nostalgia, specifically the nostalgia felt by millenials and GenZ towards an idealized version of their childhood, where everything looked hopeful and colorful. It's extremely tempting to want to go back to this dreamlike version of the 90's and early 2000's, especially now that the world is more on fire than ever before. But when you escape, you basically give up, and you have no garantee that darkness won't creep up into this "perfect" world. That's what I love about it. I also like the most controversial, darker version called Traumacore, where those childhood memories are distorted in their more horrific version possible, a kind of comfortable horror where the traumatized person can finally speak and have the illusion of control over what has happened to them.

 

[Grave Acolyte]

@watkins13 > I have read the summary of The Mystics of Muelenberg on Taskerland (sadly didn't have the time to read the full short story again) and the premise of an altered town that also affects its inhabitants is quite reminescent of the concept of the backrooms. You were right to point that out. I can see that in this quote "all places and things bore evidence to striking revisions in the base realm of matter [...]".

@R. von Pnaklendorf > I knew about the backrooms beforehand, but I hadn't delved too deep into the wiki because I'm not a huge fan of factions and monsters. It would make a decent tabletop rpg though. I like the idea of a maze of infinite locations (except those taking place in nature, which defies the whole purpuse of the backrooms as a twisted reflection of human-made spaces imo) but I think we should leave the many creepy creatures to the SCP Foundation.
I feel like Kane Parson's interpretation is a lot more subtle. I have watched his Youtube series and the movie now and I thought he kept a good balance. I'm going to keep my thoughts under spoilers for those who are planning to watch Kane Parson's works:

Spoiler

In both the series and film, you have this idea of a gigantic, probably infinite space that tries to replicate human-made rooms and buildings. I saw that as a sort of culmination of the idea of liminality, in the sense that these spaces are designed by humans for humans to be in. But when you take out the humans and let something else get in charge, it gets uncanny, unnatural and you just feel exposed and vulnerable evolving in this labyrinth where you cannot eat or drink and slowly lose your sanity. I saw that as a metaphor of places generated by capitalism, where everything starts looking the same, destroys land necessary for the production of ressources, that will end up being empty spaces when the people won't be able to afford them (I'm thinking of shopping malls and suburban houses in particular).
The film adds an interesting element (that I felt could have been more developed) : Still Lifes, very similar to doppelgangers. Not only the backrooms create an idea of human-made spaces, but they also create an idea of a human. So, when a person enters the backrooms, or lives in the proximity of an entrance, a Still Life is formed. In the film, I saw a direct paralel with Thomas Ligotti's works when Clark (the main character) rejoices at the fact that these entities feel no pain, no anxiety, they have no ego and just exist. There are also a couple of mannequins both in the real world and the backrooms that serves as an introduction to those Still Lives.

@Mersennus1951 Dreamcore is totally a form of escapism. I feel it's even more linked to nostalgia, specifically the nostalgia felt by millenials and GenZ towards an idealized version of their childhood, where everything looked hopeful and colorful. It's extremely tempting to want to go back to this dreamlike version of the 90's and early 2000's, especially now that the world is more on fire than ever before. But when you escape, you basically give up, and you have no garantee that darkness won't creep up into this "perfect" world. That's what I love about it. I also like the most controversial, darker version called Traumacore, where those childhood memories are distorted in their more horrific version possible, a kind of comfortable horror where the traumatized person can finally speak and have the illusion of control over what has happened to them.

In fact, I find Lovecraft’s Dreamlands and his second phase, associated with the dream cycle, even closer to the concept of dreamcore than Ligotti’s work, which is more concerned with unmasking the reality behind such idealisms. Lovecraft lacked Dunsany’s medieval, epic scope, despite borrowing so much from his worlds. For him, as a writer, I think this was his own form of escapism in contrast with what would come later in his fiction, although he also lost some of that mysticism and moved toward a more pulp mode. Lovecraft’s best stories are the transitional ones between both phases: “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Music of Erich Zann,” and “Pickman’s Model.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

I feel there's a difference between the escapism found in Dreamcore and the kind of escapism Lovecraft explored in works such as The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. To me, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is essentially what would be called an "isekai" in anime. Dreamcore is different; it deals with trauma and a countless number of deeper themes.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

This compilation of memes captures what I feel Thomas Ligotti conveys and his indirect influence on contemporary horror. There are actually a few clips from True Detective in there as well:

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