How bizZzare.
Stunned social media users are comparing their uncanny recurring dreams of a so-called “mall world,” despite having never actually met in real life.
Those who have experienced the metaphysical phenomenon say these labyrinthian dreams occur in real-world pedestrian settings, such as theme parks, apartments, cruise ships, schools, and, most frequently, indoor shopping malls. For some, Escher-esque “mall world” dreams have recurred for years and even decades.
It could be more than a coincidence: “At the first level, every dream is an interior discussion about a subject from this week you are attempting to come to a conclusion about,” dream analyst Layne Dalfen told The Post.
Though the events of the dreams vary from person to person, the similarities sleepers discovered have sparked a viral discourse on theories of a collective dream space, in groups such as Reddit’s r/TheMallWorld or via the Mall World Discord channel.
“I originally created this page to make sure I wasn’t the only one experiencing this stuff,” wrote the creator of r/TheMallWorld, which sees over 3,600 weekly visitors.
“This has gotten much larger than expected…”
Since then, the conversation has recently incepted across various social media platforms.
Skeptic @neverboringever sparked the conversation on TikTok after watching another user discuss her workplace-based dream about working at a mall restaurant.
“Now I’m listening, because I have recurring dreams where I am either in a huge mall … and I’ve been having these dreams for, like, 20 years,” said the social media creator from Missoula, MT, recalling many as childhood nightmares.
Some of her viewers claimed to have found their snoozing selves in the same dizzying dreamscapes for years.
TikTok user @tayelain’s visions of a “mall world” were even darker — up insurmountable staircases and down super-narrow, shadowy hallways with apartment doors stretching out before her in the millions.
“Every time I start this dream, I start up on the second level, and I’m looking up this huge staircase, and for some reason in my dream, I keep thinking, ‘How am I supposed to get all my laundry up to my room upstairs?’” she said.
Potentially thousands of others have echoed these experiences online, claiming that this unnerving dream motif has previously interrupted their good night’s sleep, too.
TikTok user @phaley247 said she found r/TheMallWorld after searching for answers about her “water park dreams” that felt like “an AI version” of reality.
“Finding the Mall World has literally changed my life because there are 20 thousand people having the same exact dreams as mine,” she rejoiced.
“I finally don’t feel alone,” wrote another believer on Reddit. “I feel so much relief in not being the only one.”
Why the dream is so popular remains up to sleep scientists to unveil.
Dalfen, a dream expert who previously acted as a consultant for PIXAR’s “Inside Out,” explained that dreams are there to help you reconcile with your subconscious.
“We are problem-solving in our dreams. So the goal is to help you connect to that very specific, very recent situation you were discussing with yourself when you had the dream,” he told The Post in an email.
The mood evoked by Mall World may hold “connections” to real-world anxieties that many of us share, because those settings have brought on similar feelings in the past.
“The unconscious only has one goal,” Dalfen explained. It wants you to take the interior conversation and bring it outside to waking life, where you can discuss it! Get feedback and ideas from those you love and trust.”
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