A Slice Of Life In Hell (2024)

Plot Bunny; In a World… where God is not a Reasonable Authority Figure and sends non-believers and pagans to Hell, including otherwise perfectly decent people, as well as other transgressors for Values Dissonance rules (people who've had abortions, who don't ever pray or fast, who use profane language, who have same-sex relations, and so on). Hell not being a Fire and Brimstone environment, but a Crapsack World where causality itself is out to get you and Finnagles Law is turned Up To Eleven; it's basically Real Life on Super Hard Mode. And you can't die.

While having its fair share of horrible or even just mediocre people (following those rules won't save you if you aren't also a good person at heart), the more proactive among the good in that world seek to resist their fates as much as their will can bear, by being extremely cautious, taking a methodic, rational, thoughtful approach to everything they do, and taking great care of each other. Given that this is a Crapsack World out to get them, there's a lot of Yank the Dog's Chain and Bait the Dog involved, and the usual Cruel Twist Ending, but they do have eternity to acquire experience and wisdom, and get to really know each other. Thus we have a perpetual source of conflict, and Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy is avoided by making the Hell-dwellers very, very sympathetic.

Probably better as an anthology than as a single story. Literally a post-apocalyptic scenario, so comparisons to works taking place in such, like The Road, or Fist Of The North Star, might be in order. May qualify as Religious Horror. Comparisons to Crapsack World such as Berserk or Warhammer 40 K might also be useful. Hell being infinite, the technology and economy levels could have a great degree of variation; see Punk Punk, and especially Cyberpunk.

Now that I think of it, Italian author Dino Buzzati made a speciality of such stories in terms of tone, but had pretty much exactly one such setting for a series of short stories: Viaggio agli inferni del secolo. Hell doesn't need to invent suffering, when it can copy that of modern life and turn it Up To Eleven.

edited 25th Mar '14 8:44:32 AM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I could see it as a story if it the main character ether is trying to figure a way to make their way to heaven, trying to win over god failing to do so and the ending you could ether do the hard truth as though there is no way to repent once you go to hell or you can go the way that god eventually forgives.

You could also turn it into a very interesting short stories where you write about generally decent people and the things that happen to them in Hell.

Just ideas :)

Anyone can be Cynical, Dare to be Optimistic -Faith, Californication

I'm pretty damned sure damnation's a one-way street. I've thought of giving it a "this is actually Purgatory and you worked very hard purging your sins, redeeming yourselves, and becoming better people; now you're ready for Heaven, where everything is awesome", but I feel it would be a bit of a cop-out.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

That is the reason why you can make the story a failed attempt, someone going through all these troubles changing their life and actually realizing their huge mistake only after it is to late. I agree with the cop-out and have to admit that it isnt something I would want to read, I like happy endings with a twist, such as the main character accepting that they did wrong, so in a way accepting damnation

Anyone can be Cynical, Dare to be Optimistic -Faith, Californication

Though damnation here's portayed as explicitly unfair by premise. Having them accept it would be kinda like how Winston learned to love Big Brother and accept his eventual execution. Which, come to think of it, is an appropriately horrifying ending, sort of like a Chick Tract except with Deliberate Values Dissonance rather than the plain sort.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I am not the best person to offer advice.

Do you plan on using a strictly Judeo-Christian Hell? Limbo could be used to offer some wiggle room. It's meant to be a section of hell were unbaptized babies and by extension pagans (in Dante's Inferno) reside. They weren't activly punished in anyway perhaps even experienced more pleusure than on Earth. It's nolonger Canon, I guess it's sort o cheating.

Maybe it's possible to gain favor of some of the Demons. Depending on the setting joining their ranks might be an option. The dammed who chose become Demons are possibly are going to require extreme levels of ruthlessness, at least desperation.

These are just some ideas. I am not very familiar with slice of life. I've attempted something similar as a black comedy it didn't work (I suck at comedy.)

edited 27th Mar '14 4:25:46 PM by manicnightmarepixie

Crappy Dali imitator and producer of generalized bad art http://kamilkovakaramelka.deviantart.com/

I'm planning to use Islamic scripture as a blueprint, since I know it better and it's canonincally more fleshed out, Word of Dante notwithstanding. There's no such thing as Judeo-Christian hell; Jews have no such thing.

Either way, I'll be mostly making sh*t up.

Canonically, Demons (if by that you mean Satan's followers) are not made of the same stuff as humans; there is no moving from one species to another. What would be the narrative, thematic purpose, of allowing "promotion to demonhood"? Does it enhance the punishment of Hell? Does it purge the soul of the punisher, or does it sink them?

In general, I don't think I'll have an administered Hell-as-prison, with a hierarchy of punishment distribution. That never made much sense to me. Hell as an impersonal, perpetual torment is much more appealing. The Vale of Tears, squared and with no end in sight, and no chance of redemption or relief.

edited 27th Mar '14 4:44:57 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

To me, it doesn't sound that original (God being a powerhungry tyrant who plunges infidels in the fiery pits of Hell is a concept people seem to worship these days), but it's all about the execution as they say, so go nuts with it.

But one note: Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy can also be caused with the situation you're describing. Game Of Thrones is often said to contain Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy not because it lacks good guys but because the good guys keep dying by the droves in horrible deaths, so having sympathetic character be Doomed Moral Victor every time can still bring that feeling to audiences.

Of course, it's all about the execution and personal opinion (as Game Of Thrones is one of the, if not the most crictically acclaimed tv-show on tv as we speak).

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

It's Been Done, but I don't see this God as a powerhungry tyrant. He demands worship and recognition and obedience and praise, but he has all the power in the cosmos, (although perhaps those things, coming from free-willed individuals, are the only things he feels he lacks?) In his mind, he's the all-father, the harsh-but-fair tribal chieftain, and humanity is his "Well Done, Son" Guy.

Also, this hell isn't particularly fiery, nor does it feature pits very prominently, except maybe as latrines. It's just a miserable place, but I indent to make it a point of not making the tortures anything over-the-top or Warhammer 40 K-ish. More like modern Detroit or Manchester than Mordor.

edited 27th Mar '14 4:56:27 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

My bad I meant Christian hell. The ascension to demonhood I borrowed that from Slavic folklore. If certain requirements were meet the dammed could become a fiend. The new demon would be released to torment their former fellow humans. They'd forsake their humanity in order to escape further torment, sometimes simply ending up in a worse situation than they where, either way they'll swoop very low.

Are you planning on having demons and devil in it at all? Sorry I have very poor knowledge of Islamic cosmology so I won't be of much help.

Crappy Dali imitator and producer of generalized bad art http://kamilkovakaramelka.deviantart.com/

Funny you should mention this. I know a guy on Deviant ART who has a whole set of drawing about slice-of-life stuff in Hell. Of course, it focuses on the demonic lords of the Pit, rather than the damned, and a couple of monstrous friends of theirs. It's more like The Addams Family with much more risque content. You could check some of it out if you want: http://spiketheklown.deviantart.com/gallery/29017000

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

Satan is just another punished Hell dweller and most certainly has no authority over the people he tempted.

You go to Hell for a bunch of reasons, mostly for disbelieving and getting in the way of the propagation of Islam. The punishments are crude, brutal, and very, VERY fiery. It's all at God's discretion, though, in all his "wisdom and knowledge".

Various groups of people described as being in Jahannam include: disbelievers,[35] hypocrites,[36] polytheists,[37] the People of the Book who reject the truth,[38] arrogant rejectors of truth,[39] sinners and criminals,[40] tyrants,[41] the unjust,[42] transgressors,[43] concealers of God's revelations,[44] persecutors of believers,[45] people who commit suicide, and murderers.[46]

After some thought, I decided to soften canon up a little bit. The work intends to be satiric ("What are these decent folk suffering so much for?"), but if they go through seething, burning, gruesome Cold-Blooded Torture, then there's just no way of taking it in that direction; either you're pants-out terrified and immediately prostrate yourself before the LORD, or Willing Suspension Of Dibelief is broken and you find yourself tossing the whole thing down the toilet. Plus, that kind of torture negates all opportunities for storytelling; even Torture p*rn tales like And I Must Scream and The Passion and Cupcakes give the characters pauses to stop and reflect on the horror they're going through, or playing mind games, or, you know, storiable things besides screaming silently (because they have been screaming so loud for so long their vocal chords were torn apart).

edited 28th Mar '14 7:09:35 AM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

If you're doing it satirical, you should stick to the "Demons rule over the sinners" thing. Otherwise it's just pointless exercises in misery.

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

You mean like every other episode of The Outer Limits?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Yeah.

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

So they were pointlessly cruel and miserable. Didn't stop the anthology from being interesting and fun to watch, and attracting many audiences. Even a Shoot the Shaggy Dog can be satisfying if well-executed.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I currently have been experimenting with a comic-type thing / idea in which a part of the setting's mythology involves good/innocent people going to a bland "hell" for something as simple as having an "unclean job." I'm actually planning on making one of my characters devout to the local religion, despite this. He has no hope of "getting to Heaven," but follows it as a personal framework for living in the now.

The comic is, primarily, about people building a memorial wall out of human bones, not as much about metaphysics, at least not yet.http://www.senordwall.com/bricklayer1.html Page 4 basically just has a character saying "Well, if the snobs are in Heaven, we don't want to be there, anyway."

As far as an actual slice of life series/story set in a slightly more traditional form of Hell...hmmm. I'd say what you could go for is not only the "Snobs are in Heaven, so hmmph!" attitude, you could go for the condemned being determined to find personal meaning in their suffering. They can be treated like people with chronic sicknesses and conditions are sometimes portrayed: how some some people can suffer a lot and yet find meaning within it. I'm bipolar. Many aspects of this condition suck, but I feel like I can ride it for artistic inspiration. I once had someone comment on one of my stories on a blog about how she'd related something I'd written to a physical chronic pain condition she had - something that's awful, but was so "a part of her" at that point she couldn't see herself being free of it without changing the self. I suppose that people living in an inescapable Hell, day to day, could do their best to try to make the Hell work for them.

Perhaps the nobility of "refusing to be consumed by the suffering" might even catch the attention of the Deity who needs a lesson on the resilience and underlying goodness of his creation.

There are a lot of ways you could go with this, just throwing in my own two Lincolns.

In which I attempt to be a writer.

That's... awesome. I'm very glad that you suggested that! I knew about such conditions as perpetual, chronic pain, and many more awful states of being, and yet I completely forgot to take them in account in a story about daily life in Hell. That's more than a hint, that,s material for a friggin' cornerstone.

And now I'm worried that this will mean research, which I will procrastinate, leaving the work on hiatus for who knows how long...

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Aw, be brave. I'm sure you can find people willing to share their experiences with you. Find anyone you know that is old - elderly, with failings in their body and ask them, if you can do so while being polite, about day to day life with that.

Or, you know, how my rapid cycling bipolar condition had me wrestling with my mind earlier today telling myself that no matter how worthless I feel, death is not the answer right now because I have people in my life who'd be hurt by that and I have things to create, horizons to see. Stupid, random-ass depression outta nowhere, too... it hits sometimes. I feel like I have a beast called "Apathy" forever with me, and even on my happy / borderline manic days, it's always two steps behind... waiting. And, yet, so far, I live.

Find people who struggle financially, or look to yourself if you're like 99 percent of the world and how you feel when you worry you can't pay your rent or afford your groceries and how awful you feel when you can't get anyone you care about holiday gifts...

Life is suffering, so I don't see the research as being too terribly hard. Still, as with anything that touches on any kind of religious issues, even if the religion is a fantasy-version, you do have to careful. Yet, there's a point at which you realize that if you aren't actually setting out to offend, those who will be offended would have been, anyway, because they were likely looking for umbrage.

In which I attempt to be a writer.

Frankly, I don't think anyone would be offended by "this Hell takes inspiration from a number of religions, mixing and matching for the purpose of telling its own story".

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Yeah, that's fine. I thought I'd read above that you were being particular with Islamic Hell.

I wonder... have you given thought to any incidence of You Are Worth Hell in the story? That's a theme I like. Hypothetically, there would someone who has followed all of the rules and is genuinely a good person, but because they are a genuinely good person, they decided they couldn't be in Heaven without their wife/husband/child/friend/neighbor/guy they talked to on the bus knowing the other was in Hell and so flipped God the bird and got their little butt sent packing to the Pit. Just another idea thrown to see if it sticks.

In which I attempt to be a writer.

I don't think they'd flip God the bird. More like they'd demand to be with their loved ones, who, according to God, don't deserve to go to Heaven. But what if the loved ones do deserve Hell? What if they were actually killed by them, yet can't help but love them?

Again, I think having a God that can choose to apply or not apply the rules at his own discretion, and that has Absolute Omniscient Morality License, and Unlimited Phenomenal Cosmic Powers to, say, perfectly erase or modify memories and feelings... well, He's really a pain in the ass to write. He's always one step above anything you can think; you can't accuse him of unfairness, since he's always right in the end, and you can't accuse him of lying, since he'll just say he told you whatever you needed to hear. The only solution is to seriously nerf Him.

Otherwise, well, any defiance against him will ust be comically useless. "So you think you could bring meaning to your life in Hell through your own efforts, huh? And who de you think is allowing that, you impudent brat? I've got areas of Hell where the punishment is so harsh you can barely think at all, and others where every effort you make to alleviate the pain only makes things worse. You think you can challenge my rule? Your rebelliousness is already a part of the system, foolish little thing. Now prostate yourself before me and beg for my mercy; perhaps I'll forgive your hubris."

He's basically a Big Brother who insists he's benevolent, controls every aspect of the reality to exist in past present or future, knows everything there is to know about everything, including what's going on in your own mind, can outmanouver outhink and outdo you whatever you may try. It's a Hopeless Boss Fight. It's Controllable Helplessness (sometimes it's not even that). It's...

Holy hell...

...◊

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Wow. Good luck with it. Really, people "trying to find meaning within their chronic suffering" is really all I've got. Perhaps once the punishment gets harsher, it just starts over again.

It is said that the last thing to die is hope, but if your hope is killed and it is literally impossible for you to die... I really don't know what's next.

In which I attempt to be a writer.

Hope is a choice. You can hope that your LORD and Master is actually truthful, in some meaningful sense, when he claims to be good and fair and just. So all you can do, all you can ever do , is follow your own conscience as closely as possible, always be on the lookout as much as possible, and hope like Hell that you're right.

Because if you aren't... if you can't even expect Cessation of Existence...

Oh my. Isn't this bleak?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.