A Hell of a Time: Difference between revisions

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Little Nicky]]'', in the end, two pseudo-Satanists die in a plane crash and are shown in Hell, partying. "They have never been happier."

* ''[[Bedazzled]]'', the remake, where Hell seems to be a non-stop nightclub. Slightly subverted in that it's implied that eventually it gets really, really boring.

* [[William Blake]]'s ''The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell'' is probably the [[Ur Example]].

* In the Eoin Colfer book ''[[The Wish List]]'', more evil people get luxury apartments, complete with lava hottubs.

* In ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', the capital of Hell (Pandemonium) is portrayed as a somewhat glorious place - far more beautiful than anywhere on earth, but rather small for countless of millions of gigantic fallen angels. Thankfully they can change their size at will.

* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Job A Comedy Of Justice|Job: A Comedy of Justice]]'', God created Hell to be a bad place, but then Satan took over and turned it relatively nice. It's notable that the story features a [[God Is Evil]] plot that is itself subverted by revealing that God and Satan "take turns" playing the Good and Evil deity role and they're merely junior members of a vast [[Celestial Bureaucracy]].

* In the novel ''Waiting On The Galactic Bus'' by Parke Godwin, Heaven and Hell (or "Topside" and "Downstairs" as the characters refer to it) are pretty much the same, shaped only by the minds of the souls ("post-life energy") who inhabit it. Also, people tend to end up in the version they expect to. In the sequel, ''The Snake Oil Wars'' Topside is run by one of the two immortal alien brothers accidentally responsible for human evolution, and Downstairs is turned over to Jesus (Yeshua) and Judas (Yes, ''that'' Judas).

* The Hell in the novels of Edward Lee is one of the "only a nice place to the evil" sorts. The Mephistopolis, as they call it, is a big [[Dystopia|Dystopian]] city with a government and economic classes. A Satanist, Nazi, mass murderer, fallen angel, tyrant, serial rapist, etc. has a much better chance of getting into Hell's privileged upper class than a suicide or a drug dealer.

== Live Action TV ==

 

* In the infamous ''[[Twilight Zone]] episode'' "A Nice Place To Visit", this trope is actually [[Ironic Hell|used as a punishment]].

 

{{quote| "They say there's a heaven for those who will wait/ Some say it's better but I say it ain't/ I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints/ The sinners are much more fun."}}

* The Irving Berlin song "Pack Up Your Sins And Go To The Devil."

* The [[Venom]] song "To Hell and Back" depicts a rollicking party full of breeding mutants, dancing zombies, Satanic queens and so forth. By metalhead standards, it sounds pretty cool. (A similar song by the same band begs "Leave Me in Hell"; granted, that narrator's daddy "rules hell's domain," so it's a good bet he's got a privileged perspective on the place.)

* A fairly common theme in [[The Smiths|Morrissey]]'s solo work.

{{quote| "And when I die, I ''want'' to go to hell!"}}

* Played as a [[Tear Jerker]] in [[Bruce Springsteen]]'s "Youngstown", where an unemployed iron worker sums up his life:

{{quote| When I die I don't want no part of heaven<br />

== Radio ==

 

 

== Theater ==

== Video Games ==

 

* In the Interactive fiction game ''Perdition's Flames'', ever since the afterlife industry was deregulated, Hell had to compete, and now it's tough to tell the difference between the two. {{spoiler|The brief view we get of Heaven in the game has more fluffy clouds and angels and fewer run-down suburbs, but is actually just as soul-crushingly obnoxious and tedious as Hell. Thus, you win, not by getting into Heaven as first implied, but by arranging to go on an expedition to various other Heavens and Hells which will hopefully be more interesting and less comical.}}

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls Four|The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion]]'', Daedra seem to be the resident equivalent of demons, therefore making the realms of Oblivion the equivalent of Hell. Sure, Dagon's plane isn't all that great, but, say, hanging around Sheogorath's realm of Oblivion is quite fun, making this a straight example. Somewhat.

* ''[[Guitar Hero]] 3'''s final stage has you {{spoiler|learning that your manager Lou is actually the devil in disguise, after you try to get out of your contract.}} He drags you to hell... Where you rock out a ridiculous concert with [[Sexy Devil|demon dancing girls]] on stage and in cages. You're doing so well he thinks you'll be able to get out of his arrangement, so he challenges you. [[Crowning Music of Awesome|To a heavy-metal version of Devil Went Down To Georgia]]. And it, is, ''awesome''.

* The interior decor of the ''Afterlife'' in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' invokes this, being based entirely on flames and steel while being simultaneously the [[Coolest Club Ever]].

 

 

* In ''Happy But Dead'', Colin, Gear and Tito all die, and Colin and Gear go to Hell (Tito goes to Heaven because "[[Dumb Is Good]]"). However, Gear and Colin soon discover that Hell isn't so bad. It's actually just like their home on Earth, except they now have healthcare and there are free hotubs (technically lava pits) everywhere.

* In ''[[Achewood]]'', everyone drives a 1982 Subaru Brat, there's a KFC, a Best Western where Robert Johnson performs (and the wallpaper mocks you), and a Friendly's that contains [[Inn Between the Worlds|the secret to escaping]]. If you try calling your still-living loved ones on a payphone, your side of the conversation is secretly replaced with a random telemarketer's pitch. The [[Alt Text]] sums it up nicely: "Hell is kind of a weird place".

* In ''[[Something Positive]]'', Hell is an eternal ferret rave. The chains and fire and brimstone for wicked souls are there too, but still... ''ferret rave''!

** Additionally, Hell turns out to be where Pepito and Avogadro are reunited. True hell for Pepito, although Avogadro apparently is a thorn in the side of the local administration by complaining that there isn't ''enough'' torture.

== Western Animation ==

 

** In another episode, a church carnival has a mirror that shows what you'd look like in Hell. When Lisa looks into it, she sees herself and ragged clothes being eaten at by flames. When [[Big Bad|Mr. Burns]] looks into it, he sees himself dressed as a king and eating a human head. "[[Catch Phrase|Excellent!]]"

** ''Treehouse of Horror IV'' features Ned Flanders as [[Satan]] (explaining "Always the one you least suspect") who manages to get Homer to sell him his soul for a doughnut. Though Homer is able to wrangle out of this before an infernal court trial he still is consigned to hell for a day. Hell is played dead straight as a place of suffering and torment, but an attempt at [[Ironic Hell]] backfires as Homer is fed all the doughnuts in the world in an attempt to drive him mad; it fails and Homer just keeps asking for more.