I hope this isn't a weird question but you're the spatial horror expert on my dash and I'm not sure I completely grasp the concept so: would you say Portal is kind of like a sci fi take on spatial horror? like, the consciousness of a human being was computerized and there were some things lost and changed in the process (like the built-in desire to test) and then she was put into a body that's just. unfathomably large and decidedly unhuman. aperture science as a building that's alive but not really (haunted by something that's not human anymore?), and the people who made GladOs aren't happy with the result so they try to change her which makes things worse for her. and the decay between p1 and p2 showing that the facility isn't necessarily better off without her, with p2's conclusion being to just let her exist as she is? sorry if this makes like no sense but I can't stop thinking about it
oh that’s a really idea, I will admit I haven’t really thought of portal like that before.
I guess I should give you my framework of what I mean by “spatial horror” when I discuss it. I typically approach spatial horror as a space that acts different from its original intent and often has no reasonable explanation for why it is the way it is. A few examples of this is the house on ash tree lane from House of Leaves, the alien architecture of Naissancee or the anatomy house. all of these remain unexplainable, they simply just are. these spaces can even be built but then spiral away from their creators and break the boundaries of the material world like the Polyhedron in Pathologic, which has properties beyond the Stamatin brothers originally intended, or even Eskew, a city that is the embodiment of chaos against its creator’s will.
another attribute of spatial horror that I typically ascribe to such spaces is not knowing who is causing the distortions. in portal, we do know that it is Glados that is controlling the way that buildings shift and turn. It can even be explained that she is able to do this due to the scientific technology developed in year [redacted] that the game takes place in. it takes away a bit of that mysterious appeal of spatial horror since we as the player are aware who is causing the walls to twist and turn within themselves. so in that definition, I would say no I personally don’t consider it spatial horror but others might based off their own ideas.
I also think Glados’ transformation from human Caroline to a machine actually can be classified into some realm of existential horror (another favorite topic of mine). While she demonstrates agency after all the scientists have perished, she is still confined to her metal body. I think her moving parts of the building to hinder Chell’s path is actually her way of exerting any form of independence in a form that was created to contain her. But even she has blindspots —most evident nearing the end of portal 1. While she certainly complains about it, her being put into a potato is the most definitive form of independence she gets where she move throughout the building but she still requires Chell to do so. I think it’s an interesting point to say that Glados is haunting Aperture which I would agree with, but I would go even further to say that Aperture is haunting her in turn. In portal, we essentially see Glados manipulating her own cage while still never being unable to escape, even to the very end.
