# Most horrific depictions of Hell **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960 "2008-08-14T10:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/41 "2008-08-15T00:31:56Z")
The depictions of Hell - or rather the top, least extreme level - from _Nifft the Lean_ were pretty horrifying. Giant wasps laying eggs in people, people warped into undersea monstrosities mostly consisting of fans of exposed, tortured nerve endings, that sort of thing. And there’s the artificial Hell created by the Queen of Pain ( an insane superbeing ) or rather the even worse place under it in the story [Yes, Jolonah, There is a Hell](http://www.orionsarm.com/stories/Hell.html). > [@](#): > > “What are they?” asked Jolonah. > > “Pain,” said Marishison. "Pure, distilled, stripped-down pain. They were ones living beings like yourself. But now they are nothing but bundles of nerves, yet multiplied over and over again so that their pain would be unique in all Creation. Their nerve endings have been multiplied many millionfold, their pain receptors many times more. They are unique forms of life with nothing but pain for flesh, and the pain felt by one of them for a second would torment an entire living world for eons. Their suffering is as far beyond the torments of Hell as Hell is beyond the pleasures of the living world. That’s pretty extreme you have to admit. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/42 "2008-08-15T00:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] Actually for me Dante’s _Purgatory_ freaked me out a helluva lot more. Particularly the envious whose eyes are sewn shut. ::shudder:: [/QUOTE] I skimmed through the _Purgatory_ as part of a Medieval Studies class. What I remember most is being tickled by the idea that the Slothful were forced to jog. Jogging was very popular at the time. I found the _Inferno_ more unappealing. Not least because it was supposed to be permanent and unchanging. You got to work your way up Mount Purgatory. The thing that really repulsed me, though, was the idea of drinking the water of forgetfulness before entering heaven. If you’re taking my memory, what was the point of Purgatory? And why not just obliterate me entirely? I don’t remember whether that last bit was at the end of _Purgatory_ or at the beginning of _Paradise_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/43 "2008-08-15T02:12:03Z")
When I was a teenager, [Inferno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(novel)) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle terrified me. Really, I had several nightmares related to it. According to Amazon, it’s going to be re-issued in September, if anyone cares to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/44 "2008-08-15T02:23:04Z")
I thought the hell inhabited by the character of the wife who committed suicide after the deaths of her husband & children in _What Dreams May Come_ was pretty disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/45 "2008-08-15T02:47:56Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] When I was a teenager, [Inferno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(novel)) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle terrified me. Really, I had several nightmares related to it. According to Amazon, it’s going to be re-issued in September, if anyone cares to check it out. [/QUOTE] That’s a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/46 "2008-08-15T05:24:52Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] I thought the hell inhabited by the character of the wife who committed suicide after the deaths of her husband & children in _What Dreams May Come_ was pretty disturbing. [/QUOTE] One notable thing that has in common with “That Feeling . . . French”, IMO, is that of insanity and repetition brought on by one’s internal feelings of guilt. Also the atmosphere of a dream one can’t wake up from. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/47 "2008-08-15T07:33:52Z")
Less academic, to be sure, but this freaked me out when I was a kid: [The Sentinel](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076683/) I don’t know who let me watch that one, but it was pretty horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/48 "2008-08-15T08:03:33Z")
As an overall movie, it has its problems, but some of the depictions of hell in **What Dreams May Come** were pretty disturbing. Especially the ‘sea’ made up of lost souls ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/49 "2008-08-15T10:33:09Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] That’s a good one. [/QUOTE] Now just for once, and in a thread that touches tangentially on religion, **Der** and I are in complete agreement. I first read this nearly thirty years ago and it has stood many rereadings. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Just think of it as a long, refreshing nap. > > Bonus: no cellphone users around. That was fine for the golem Anghammarad in _Going Postal_, but for Vorbis in _Small Gods_ the major problem was that he was aware that there was judgment at the end of the desert, and he didn’t dare move from the spot he was in, frozen in terror. On arriving in the same place a century later, Brutha asks about this, and Death also mentions that not everyone perceives time in the same way. Brutha: You mean a hundred years can pass like a few seconds? Death: A HUNDRED YEARS CAN PASS LIKE INFINITY. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/50 "2008-08-15T11:59:21Z")
_Rocko’s Modern Life_ had an oddly chilling one, way back when…one character’s [del]hell[/del] “Heck” was nothing more than a white nothingness (the fire and brimstone section of the underworld, which he actually passed through, was “just for tourists”), with an easy chair to sit in, and a television. The TV would show nothing but the character’s best friend slowly starving to death, because of the gluttony of the condemned fellow. In an endless loop. Being the TV from Heck, of course, there was no remote. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/51 "2008-08-15T21:28:27Z")
I did not care much for the pictures in _Barlowe’s Inferno_, but he had an interesting interpretation of damnation: Human souls are Hell’s raw material. If a demon wants to build a machine, he grabs a soul, shapes it into a cog, and uses it to build his machine. If a demon wants to build a house, he grabs a soul, shapes it into a brick, and uses it to build his house. The demon does not know, or care, whether you were a mass murderer, or a petty thief. You are not receiving any particular punishment for any particular sin. It is all completely random and completely impersonal. You simply don’t matter any more. Think about it. Wayne Barlowe is an artist. What is the worst torment he can imagine? Being paint on someone else’s canvas. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/52 "2008-08-15T21:56:16Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] When I was a teenager, [Inferno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(novel)) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle terrified me. Really, I had several nightmares related to it. According to Amazon, it’s going to be re-issued in September, if anyone cares to check it out. [/QUOTE] And they have written a sequel which will be out soon…speaking of the tortures of the damned, and all. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/53 "2008-08-15T22:16:24Z")
From [_Revelation X: The “Bob” Apocryphon,_](http://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Apocryphon-Hidden-Teachings-Deuterocanonical/dp/1560259558/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2010750-0004000?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192999703&sr=8-1) Chapter 8: “Heaven and Hell”: > [@](#): > > Everything written regarding Hell in all bibles, from the Zoroastrian up through Dante to Chick Comics, is literally true (_except_ the name of the author). The traditional Hell exists, complete with Lake of Fire, demons, and eternal torment; they aren’t lying about _that._ What they don’t tell you is that _only religious people go there._ > > It’s a rare SubGenius that ends up in this Normal Hell, the lowest rung of the Ladder of Beforelives. THE HELL CLAUSE states that _Hell is reserved for those who believe in it, and the lowest Circle is for those who think that if they don’t believe in it, they’ll go there._ Hell is JHVH-1’s revenge on those who insult His intelligence by thinking He is as simple-minded, cruel and vengeful as THEY are. The Devil’s job is to pester _them,_ to milk out every last drop of human faith and credence. Satan manages Hell, and it’s a very busy place these days, but his responsibilities regarding earthly life cover only religious nuts. JHVH-1 assigned him to create some kind of secondary Hell on earth, so Satan devised the idea of multiple religions, all believing in his existence but hating each other even more than they hate him. (In the end it doesn’t really matter whether those Normals are “good” or “bad” in life; Satan and JHVH-1 divvy up the souls 50-50, at random.) > > \ > > Pink Heaven (frequently misidentified as Christian Heaven or Islamic Paradise) is nothing but a more sophisticated Hell, with air conditioning. In many ways, it is far worse. At least in Hell, you know where you stand. The sheep in Heaven can’t even guess how utterly doomed they truly are. > > “Heaven” is only the second rung up the Beforelife ladder, and, like Hell, is reserved for believers. It consists of an _absence_ not only of pain, _but also of pleasure._ > > Great deal, huh? You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Disobedient souls burn in Hell forever, but _obedient souls_ “belong to God.” As if making you an employee all your LIFE wasn’t bad enough, you’re enslaved in the AFTERLIFE as well! You get all the joy of a fundamentalist’s lifestyle, with no hope of release – not even death! > > \ > > In “Heaven” there dwell certain hungry, rapacious predator spirits, called **Theocrats,** which vampirize the PPQF of weaker spirits in order to “live” forever at the expense of their victims. > > > [@](#): > > > > "The Theocrats enslave other spirits to provide psychic energy, just as slaves or employees on Eart provide physical labor . . . They obtain these victims by posing as gods and persuading the religious believers to come to them voluntarily after death thinking they are entering “eternal bliss in Heaven.” > > > > "Many notorious tyrants, conquerors, evil religious leaders, black magicians and criminals have become Theocrats after death, but so have some saints and benign geniuses. Power corrupts and the prospect of achieving immortality corrupts even more. Many people with highly developed souls, whose earthly lives were lived quite ethically, chose to become Theocrats after death . . . This has been especially true for people who were religiously devout, then found out the horrible truth about the gods after death. > > > > "The daily activities of a Fundamentalist Theocratic band organized as Heaven are similar to a church service as such sects hold them on Earth, except that they go on perpetually. The Theocrat in charge poses as the Lord God Jehovah, and subordinate Theocrats pose as Christ, various Angels and Apostles, and so forth. “God” quotes the same Biblical passages and preaches the same sermons as preachers in the same sect do on Earth, and the congregation joins in singing the same hymns. . . . The Theocratic leaders then channel this collective psychic energy . . . For instance, there are dead Christians who think they are in Heaven, sitting around the throne of Jehovah “eternally singing his praises,” when they’re really just his slaves and possibly his dinner as well. Now you understand the real significance of “Holy Communion.” > > > > ". . . As fanatical belief in organized religion declines in the modern era, the Theocrats have even devised ways to persuade atheists and agnostics to join Theocratic bands after death. The most common is simply to invite them to join what appears to be a community of spirits that includes some of their previously-deceased relatives or friends, or some famous person they greatly admire . . . There are also “Heavens” whose “gods” claim to be politicians, movie stars, writers, scientists, rock stars, _or even fictional characters."_ > > – excerpted from Kyle Griffith’s _War in Heaven._ > > The most insidiously cruel aspect of Pink Heaven/Normal Hell is that _it’s all self-inflicted punishment._ Nothing happens to those souls that they didn’t ask for, that wasn’t self-devised down to the smallest detail. And nastiest of all, just as their store of anguish is about to be _used up,_ they are TOLD they _could_ escape _if only they would stop believing – BUT THAT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE._ For, there they are, right in the thick of it, with flames searing their skin, or etheric vampires slowly devouring their very essence . . . so _it’s just a bit difficult_ NOT to believe in it. But there is hope! Now you can **save** your soul from Heaven! Just send it with $30 for shipping & handling costs to: [The Church of the SubGenius](http://www.subgenius.com/) c/o Reverend Ivan Stang P.O. Box 181417 Cleveland Heights, OH 44118-1417 Eternal salvation guaranteed – **OR TRIPLE YOUR MONEY BACK!** ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960/54 "2008-08-16T03:03:57Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] For me the most horrific example of Hell was the one in the **Twilight Zone** where everything was perfect for the petty crook. After I saw that, I realized how terrible that would be for eternity. The dice always hit seven, the wheel always hit his number, everyone agreed with him, tellers in banks always just handed him money. As I remember, Sabastin Cabot played Satan in that show. It was extremely well done, and very haunting. [/QUOTE] Petty crook (paraphrased): Gee, I thought only certain kinds of people made it here (still thinking it was a paradise) – like teachers. Cabot-Satan: Oh, we have _plenty of teachers here_! :eek: * * * Kinda’ makes you want to second-guess yourself about a teaching career. Or at least be very, very careful. 🆒 - “Jack” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrific-depictions-of-hell/459960.md?page=2)