Corridors are often chosen as a scene for a horror movie. The space is limited and it can almost feel like you’re trapped in a corner, especially if it’s not straight and you can’t see what’s coming next. Also, there are so many possibilities to introduce new crazy characters in a corridor because they can hide behind any door and the victim has practically nowhere to escape.

Stanley Kubrick’s horror film The Shining (1980) is a famous example of setting a scene in a corridor. A 5-year-old child is riding his tricycle through an empty hotel when twin girls that are ghosts appear and invite the boy to play. The scene includes jumpcuts to a terrifying murder scene and eventually the girls disappear.

The Shining is not the only example of a corridor being used to make the viewers sit on the edge of their seats. They often become murder scenes in crime movies or TV shows. The creepy vibe in asylums or schools at night is also created by gliding the camera along the corridors.

It is especially unnerving when several lights in the corridor are not working or they are flickering. In this list, you may find the design or choice of colors frightening or just how they are so empty. You might have experienced the same intimidating feeling when you went outside during the lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic as in many countries, almost everything was closed.

But horror movies use all sorts of places for their scary scenes and they do terrify us in the movies, but in real life, we understand there is nothing to be scared of. It seems that it is different with corridors and horror movie directors took a place that already had an unsettling feeling about it and amplified it in their films.

These kinds of movies exploit the irrational fears people have because in order to elicit the response of fear, disgust or any other emotion, they have to be based on something true and familiar.

Do you find corridors unsettling? Do you think it is because it’s in their nature or you feel that mostly horror movies contributed to making them like that? What is your opinion on why corridors might seem scary even if there are no obvious reasons? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!