Thousands of Redditors dream of ‘MallWorld’

1 day agoLast Updated: November 3, 2025

2 8 minutes read

Thousands of Redditors dream of ‘MallWorld’

By Eve Upton-Clark | Published: 2025-11-03 19:40:00 | Source: Fast Company – technology

“I always dream of the same mall.”

This is how the conversation begins mail On the popular subreddit r/The MallWorld. This subreddit was first created in 2021, and is currently visited by 10,000 monthly visitors who detail their recurring dreams about strange and often empty spaces. The description says: “Have you visited one of these popular dream locations?”

“It has a very vintage feel,” the post continued. It always has warm amber lighting and wooden guard rails. It consists of 3 main floors and a secret basement.

“The basement is usually kept clean, a time capsule of the ’90s. The stores are closed but the merchandise remains. It smells like a kindergarten class..”

If this dream sounds familiar, you are not alone. The post is among thousands on Reddit and Tik Tok Who say they also dream of the same space, collectively referred to as the “Mall of the World.”

But this is no ordinary shopping mall. Although it’s not always identical, many say their mall worlds share similarities. It has endless stairs, blocked floors, and looping elevators. Some have dreamed of the dining hall itself, others of the gaming hall. Sometimes a dream scene isn’t a mall at all, but just… Water park or airport. People have tried to Mapping From Mall of the World. One wrote: “Finally I don’t feel so alone.” On Reddit. “I feel so relieved that I’m not the only one.”

The dreamscape has recently seen a resurgence in interest. One TikTok user said she discovered the Mall World subreddit after searching for answers about a recurring dream she was having.

she He explained“Finding the Mall World literally changed my life because there are 20,000 people who have exactly the same dreams as me.” The video was posted earlier this year and currently has over 400,000 views.

So why does everyone have the same dream? There are a number of theories circulating on the Internet

Someone suggests that it is related to Carl Jung’s theory Collective unconscious – The idea that all humans share a deep, inherited layer of the unconscious mind that shapes the way we think and dream. Connect the idea to “astral travel,” where the physical body is left behind to explore other levels of consciousness. Another conspiracy theory links these shared dreams to Gifted and Talented Program In the eighties and nineties.

Or perhaps the real reason is less interesting. Most of us have been to a mall at least once in our lives, and our brains tend to feed off existing mental maps and memories to build our dream scenes. said Dylan Selterman, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University New York Times“Sometimes people dream of strange things.”

Liminal spaces have been a source of fascination online for years. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that online discourse subconsciously influences people’s dreams. If you haven’t been to Mall World and feel left out, just reading about Mall World may be enough to motivate a visit.

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(Tags for translation)Psychology

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