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The Penguin Book of Hell
"From the Bible through Dante and up to Treblinka and Guantánamo Bay, here is a rich source for nightmares." --The New York Times Book ReviewThree thousand years of visions of Hell, from the ancient Near East to modern AmericaA Penguin ClassicFrom the Hebrew Bible's shadowy realm of Sheol to twenty-first-century visions of Hell on earth, The Penguin Book of Hell takes us through three thousand years of eternal damnation. Along the way, you'll take a ferry ride with Aeneas to Hades, across the river Acheron; meet the Devil as imagined by a twelfth-century Irish monk--a monster with a thousand giant hands; wander the nine circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno, in which gluttons, liars, heretics, murderers, and hypocrites are made to endure crime-appropriate torture; and witness the debates that raged in Victorian England when new scientific advances cast doubt on the idea of an eternal hereafter. Drawing upon religious poetry, epics, theological treatises, stories of miracles, and accounts of saints' lives, this fascinating volume of hellscapes illuminates how Hell has long haunted us, in both life and death.For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2018
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About the author
Scott G. Bruce
14 books34 followersScott G. Bruce is an historian of religion and culture in the early and central Middle Ages (c. 400-1200). He teaches in the Department of History at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Classics. His research interests include monasticism, hagiography and Latin poetry. He is a specialist on the history of the abbey of Cluny. His work has been funded by the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation.
SGB is the author of Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism: The Cluniac Tradition (c. 900-1200) (Cambridge, 2007) and the editor of Ecologies and Economies in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Studies in Environmental History for Richard C. Hoffmann (Leiden, 2010). His articles have appeared in Revue bénédictine, Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses, The Journal of Medieval Latin, and Early Medieval Europe.
SGB is an enthusiastic participant in the Medieval Academy of America (MAA). He is recently served a two-year term on the MAA Nominating Committee (2012-14) and is currently serving a three-year term on the MAA AHA Program Committee (2013-17).
SGB is Director of the University of Colorado's Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (CMEMS) for a three-year term (2013-2016).
SGB is the author of Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism: The Cluniac Tradition (c. 900-1200) (Cambridge, 2007) and the editor of Ecologies and Economies in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Studies in Environmental History for Richard C. Hoffmann (Leiden, 2010). His articles have appeared in Revue bénédictine, Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses, The Journal of Medieval Latin, and Early Medieval Europe.
SGB is an enthusiastic participant in the Medieval Academy of America (MAA). He is recently served a two-year term on the MAA Nominating Committee (2012-14) and is currently serving a three-year term on the MAA AHA Program Committee (2013-17).
SGB is Director of the University of Colorado's Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (CMEMS) for a three-year term (2013-2016).
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July 23, 2020
Control Without Fingerprints
In my youth, and that of many another Catholic school boy of the time, religious ‘retreats’ were an essential component of the curriculum. Three or four days each year were set aside for doing nothing but considering one’s spiritual state - a sort of Catholic tent revival without the singing (silence was strictly enforced). This group activity was usually supervised by a Jesuit priest who, I presume, specialised in such work.
The agenda for retreats never varied. In addition to a fixed daily routine of liturgical observances - Mass, the Divine Office, Benediction - everyone was required to attend lectures on the so-called Four Last Things, namely Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. In these, the assembled adolescent boys would be berated, intimidated, and ultimately convinced of their inadequacy as human beings. Think of Marine boot camp as the physical equivalent of the psychological readjustment which the process was meant to achieve.
The sequence of the lectures was critical. Hell was the emotional culmination of the entire experience. I’ll wager that no one who has heard the kinds of gruesome descriptions awaiting those who did not act as required, particularly regarding obedience and sex, can ever forget them. And this was precisely the intention of the entire programme - to frighten everyone present into permanent, unquestioning submission to ecclesiastical authority. It worked. The fact that the whole process effectively constituted child abuse wasn’t considered relevant at the time.
Even for those who ceased their formal affiliation with the Church in latter years, the emotional residue of these lectures remains buried in the unconscious, shaping much of our lives. Young masculine minds have a penchant for absorbing ghoul into their personalities:
As Scott Bruce points out, hell was not invented by Christians. But the concept was certainly developed and refined into a uniquely practical doctrine for social control by an institution which had, for a time at least, abjured physical violence. It left no visible marks. There were no limits to the horrors that could be invented and applied. And, most important, it was a mechanism by which each individual became his own policeman. The watcher was also the watched; failing to watch zealously was sufficient cause for damnation. At least Protestantism was more humane in its views - predestination mitigates responsibility and salvation by faith alone narrows one’s worries substantially.
Bruce’s thesis is that although the concept of hell has lost its grip on the modern imagination as a place of punishment (even in church circles), it still exerts a metaphorical hold on Western society. This is no doubt true. Socialism is the inferno of Capitalism; and vice versa. Africa is (according to Trump) a hell-hole; as is most of Latin America. The United States trades hell-based insults with the Axis of Evil which then responds to the Great Satan. The doctrine has been secularised. But it’s intention remains the same as it was in religion: to generate self-enforced conformity and willing obedience within a population.
Christianity transformed the Ancient Greek Tartarus, the Jewish Sheol, and the Roman Underworld from mythical places of indeterminate existence into purportedly real prisons of retributive punishment. Given Jesus’s constant emphasis on the universal availability of heavenly delights according to the gospels, this is a remarkable volte face. Clearly the transformation is politically motivated, not to attract followers but to keep those who were already part of the tribe in line. Hell has never been a very effective marketing strategy but it its hard to beat as an organizing principle. And so it remains: yet another legacy of European culture benefitting the world at large.
In my youth, and that of many another Catholic school boy of the time, religious ‘retreats’ were an essential component of the curriculum. Three or four days each year were set aside for doing nothing but considering one’s spiritual state - a sort of Catholic tent revival without the singing (silence was strictly enforced). This group activity was usually supervised by a Jesuit priest who, I presume, specialised in such work.
The agenda for retreats never varied. In addition to a fixed daily routine of liturgical observances - Mass, the Divine Office, Benediction - everyone was required to attend lectures on the so-called Four Last Things, namely Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. In these, the assembled adolescent boys would be berated, intimidated, and ultimately convinced of their inadequacy as human beings. Think of Marine boot camp as the physical equivalent of the psychological readjustment which the process was meant to achieve.
The sequence of the lectures was critical. Hell was the emotional culmination of the entire experience. I’ll wager that no one who has heard the kinds of gruesome descriptions awaiting those who did not act as required, particularly regarding obedience and sex, can ever forget them. And this was precisely the intention of the entire programme - to frighten everyone present into permanent, unquestioning submission to ecclesiastical authority. It worked. The fact that the whole process effectively constituted child abuse wasn’t considered relevant at the time.
Even for those who ceased their formal affiliation with the Church in latter years, the emotional residue of these lectures remains buried in the unconscious, shaping much of our lives. Young masculine minds have a penchant for absorbing ghoul into their personalities:
“Hell became a vast prison of red-hot iron and choking smoke with great gates built to withstand the seething tide of furious, tormented souls who crashed inexorably against them in their futile attempt to escape their suffering. The literature of Hell boasts famous villains, but most of the damned are ordinary people like you and me, each judged to be deserving of eternal punishment for their own private sins.”
As Scott Bruce points out, hell was not invented by Christians. But the concept was certainly developed and refined into a uniquely practical doctrine for social control by an institution which had, for a time at least, abjured physical violence. It left no visible marks. There were no limits to the horrors that could be invented and applied. And, most important, it was a mechanism by which each individual became his own policeman. The watcher was also the watched; failing to watch zealously was sufficient cause for damnation. At least Protestantism was more humane in its views - predestination mitigates responsibility and salvation by faith alone narrows one’s worries substantially.
Bruce’s thesis is that although the concept of hell has lost its grip on the modern imagination as a place of punishment (even in church circles), it still exerts a metaphorical hold on Western society. This is no doubt true. Socialism is the inferno of Capitalism; and vice versa. Africa is (according to Trump) a hell-hole; as is most of Latin America. The United States trades hell-based insults with the Axis of Evil which then responds to the Great Satan. The doctrine has been secularised. But it’s intention remains the same as it was in religion: to generate self-enforced conformity and willing obedience within a population.
Christianity transformed the Ancient Greek Tartarus, the Jewish Sheol, and the Roman Underworld from mythical places of indeterminate existence into purportedly real prisons of retributive punishment. Given Jesus’s constant emphasis on the universal availability of heavenly delights according to the gospels, this is a remarkable volte face. Clearly the transformation is politically motivated, not to attract followers but to keep those who were already part of the tribe in line. Hell has never been a very effective marketing strategy but it its hard to beat as an organizing principle. And so it remains: yet another legacy of European culture benefitting the world at large.
November 28, 2018
When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it, since I am currently studying the concepts of good and evil in both the ecclesiastical and secular sense. I was not disappointed by this book at all. there is a wide variety of literature samples included in this book and interesting notes about where origins of the beliefs came from.
This is the kind of book that you can read from beginning to end, or skip sections and come back later and you still get the same effect. As a research tool, this book is fantastic. I found that there was a lot of relatively obscure and difficult to find material in here and that made this worth reading and also worth making a permanent addition to my library.
Excellent, well-compiled and edited. Recommended.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
This is the kind of book that you can read from beginning to end, or skip sections and come back later and you still get the same effect. As a research tool, this book is fantastic. I found that there was a lot of relatively obscure and difficult to find material in here and that made this worth reading and also worth making a permanent addition to my library.
Excellent, well-compiled and edited. Recommended.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
July 18, 2022
And I descend from grace
In arms of undertow
I will take my place
In the great below
In arms of undertow
I will take my place
In the great below
October 24, 2021
A 7 hour unabridged audiobook.
A book ruined in the final 25 minutes.
I can get behind leaving old writing about hell to focus on new writings of hell on Earth, like what was mentioned about Treblinka, the horrid concentration camp.
But giving similar weights to Guantanamo Bay detainees, and a guy in an American solitary confinement cell who killed a deputy during an escape attempt? As if these are all of the same level? Wow. Pass. Did not like.
A book ruined in the final 25 minutes.
I can get behind leaving old writing about hell to focus on new writings of hell on Earth, like what was mentioned about Treblinka, the horrid concentration camp.
But giving similar weights to Guantanamo Bay detainees, and a guy in an American solitary confinement cell who killed a deputy during an escape attempt? As if these are all of the same level? Wow. Pass. Did not like.
October 26, 2021
A good mix of sources, but what I'm really here for is the Late Antique and Early Medieval stuff where things get proper weird. The Vision of Tundale is a particularly imaginative highlight with giant metal birds that eat souls then vomit them up as a sort of slurry only to eat them up again, and the genitals of the damned turning into vipers that devour them.
These early texts also have the most surprises in them. St Brendan sails to Hell, meets Judas on a tiny windswept rock, and protects him from a bunch of demons seeking to go above and beyond their divinely allotted quota of punishment. In The Harrowing of Hell from the Gospel of Nicodemus, the demon Infernus really commits to taking the piss out of Satan for how thick he is (Think Satan, think! If you hadn't gone and gotten Jesus killed he wouldn't be able to come and harrow Hell now would he! He's gone and let everybody out except you!).
Some of the later medieval and early modern content can however be a bit of a slog to get through. You get a good sense of how the conception of Hell developed over time, but compared to the vivid scenes from the earlier sources Thomas Aquinas' mean spirited logic and the sermons and treatises in this section of the book just aren't as interesting to read. The excerpt from the Victorian pamphlet Hell For Children though is so malicious that it becomes almost comical.
The decision to end with accounts of modern Hells of our own manufacture (Treblinka, Hiroshima, solitary confinement, Guantanamo) is a bold one, and it makes for some pretty heavy reading, but really helps put the rest of the fantastical sources in a real context.
These early texts also have the most surprises in them. St Brendan sails to Hell, meets Judas on a tiny windswept rock, and protects him from a bunch of demons seeking to go above and beyond their divinely allotted quota of punishment. In The Harrowing of Hell from the Gospel of Nicodemus, the demon Infernus really commits to taking the piss out of Satan for how thick he is (Think Satan, think! If you hadn't gone and gotten Jesus killed he wouldn't be able to come and harrow Hell now would he! He's gone and let everybody out except you!).
Some of the later medieval and early modern content can however be a bit of a slog to get through. You get a good sense of how the conception of Hell developed over time, but compared to the vivid scenes from the earlier sources Thomas Aquinas' mean spirited logic and the sermons and treatises in this section of the book just aren't as interesting to read. The excerpt from the Victorian pamphlet Hell For Children though is so malicious that it becomes almost comical.
The decision to end with accounts of modern Hells of our own manufacture (Treblinka, Hiroshima, solitary confinement, Guantanamo) is a bold one, and it makes for some pretty heavy reading, but really helps put the rest of the fantastical sources in a real context.
September 9, 2022
"In hell, all of the interesting people are missing."---Nietzsche
"For mankind the loss of a belief in hell might have had more dire consequences than the loss of a belief in heaven, for while the Communists proved that heaven could not be built on earth the Nazis proved you could build hell on earth."---George Steiner
A few days ago I learned a startling fact: there are Catholic theologians who argue that hell is currently empty, or missing its most interesting people. Saith one Church scholar, "We cannot be sure that anyone---not even Judas or Hitler---is now in hell. Christian teaching argues repentance and love of Christ may save anyone at the last minute." A minority view, but one well-worth pondering. (Apparently the modern Church, unlike Dante, has forgiven Brutus.) Curiously, hell is also missing from the ur-text of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the Old Testament. Scott Bruce cannot find evidence the Hebrews ever believed in hell, a concept that probably originated among their Babylonian neighbors. King David swears he will send his enemies to "the land of shadows, where they will be a portion for foxes", not eternal damnation in constant punishment. Yet, some sea-change must have occurred since by the time we get to Jesus He consigned his enemies to "Lakes of fire...where there will be much suffering and gnashing of teeth." The pre-Islamic pagan Arabs believed in evil spirits, the jinn, but not in an afterlife, for better or worse. Mohammed seems to have borrowed this concept from the Byzantine Christians. Hell eventually migrated into Judaism too. Scott quotes several pronouncements from medieval rabbis dealing with fire and brimstone. (Though not in today's world. I once heard a rabbi tell a gathering of Jews, Muslims and Christians, "Satan exists right here", and he pointed to his heart). All this might be written off as bizarre except that billions of people around the globe still fear the "place where there is neither death nor life" for eternity.
"For mankind the loss of a belief in hell might have had more dire consequences than the loss of a belief in heaven, for while the Communists proved that heaven could not be built on earth the Nazis proved you could build hell on earth."---George Steiner
A few days ago I learned a startling fact: there are Catholic theologians who argue that hell is currently empty, or missing its most interesting people. Saith one Church scholar, "We cannot be sure that anyone---not even Judas or Hitler---is now in hell. Christian teaching argues repentance and love of Christ may save anyone at the last minute." A minority view, but one well-worth pondering. (Apparently the modern Church, unlike Dante, has forgiven Brutus.) Curiously, hell is also missing from the ur-text of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the Old Testament. Scott Bruce cannot find evidence the Hebrews ever believed in hell, a concept that probably originated among their Babylonian neighbors. King David swears he will send his enemies to "the land of shadows, where they will be a portion for foxes", not eternal damnation in constant punishment. Yet, some sea-change must have occurred since by the time we get to Jesus He consigned his enemies to "Lakes of fire...where there will be much suffering and gnashing of teeth." The pre-Islamic pagan Arabs believed in evil spirits, the jinn, but not in an afterlife, for better or worse. Mohammed seems to have borrowed this concept from the Byzantine Christians. Hell eventually migrated into Judaism too. Scott quotes several pronouncements from medieval rabbis dealing with fire and brimstone. (Though not in today's world. I once heard a rabbi tell a gathering of Jews, Muslims and Christians, "Satan exists right here", and he pointed to his heart). All this might be written off as bizarre except that billions of people around the globe still fear the "place where there is neither death nor life" for eternity.
August 30, 2019
Este ensayo comprende las muchas versiones del mundo de ultratumba y sus castigos. Comienza recordando la idea que se tenía en la antigüedad clásica: Sumeria, Egipto, Grecia y Roma. De aquí pasa al concepto de la edad media y su oscurantismo con Tomás de Aquino y Dante Alighieri.
En el siglo XIX, el infierno empieza a ubicarse en algún lugar, ya no producto de la imaginación calenturienta de los fanáticos. En esta época se preguntan en dónde se encuentra el cielo y el infierno.
En el siglo XX, ya se puede situar el infierno: en los campos de concentración nazi, específicamente en Treblinka. Más tarde, el infierno surge en Hiroshima y Nagasaki, con la explosión de la bomba atómica los días 6 y 9 de agosto de 1945. Se comprueba que los castigos son a base de fuego, radiación y enfermedad, que no son producto de la imaginación sino hechos consumados según el testimonio de Yoshikita Kawamoto, escolar de 13 años, vecino de Hiroshima: "Una pálida luz parpadeó por 2 o 3 segundos, luego me desmayé. No sé cuanto tiempo pasó antes devolver en mí. Estaba atrapado en los escombros. Los sobrevivientes cantamos, lloramos, y algunos llamaron a su madre. Creíamos que alguien vendría en nuestra ayuda, pero nadie vino. Hice un esfuerzo y saqué la cabeza de entre aquellas ruinas. Entonces me di cuenta del tamaño de los daños a mi alrededor. El cielo estaba muy oscuro y algo como un tornado o una gran bola de fuego, azotaba la ciudad."
Esta es una descripción de terror.
Y el último infierno conocido, ya en el siglo XXI, fue la cárcel de Guantánamo en Cuba, fundada por el gobierno de George Bush en 2002.
Aunque este libro es largo, es muy recomendable e informativa su lectura.
En el siglo XIX, el infierno empieza a ubicarse en algún lugar, ya no producto de la imaginación calenturienta de los fanáticos. En esta época se preguntan en dónde se encuentra el cielo y el infierno.
En el siglo XX, ya se puede situar el infierno: en los campos de concentración nazi, específicamente en Treblinka. Más tarde, el infierno surge en Hiroshima y Nagasaki, con la explosión de la bomba atómica los días 6 y 9 de agosto de 1945. Se comprueba que los castigos son a base de fuego, radiación y enfermedad, que no son producto de la imaginación sino hechos consumados según el testimonio de Yoshikita Kawamoto, escolar de 13 años, vecino de Hiroshima: "Una pálida luz parpadeó por 2 o 3 segundos, luego me desmayé. No sé cuanto tiempo pasó antes devolver en mí. Estaba atrapado en los escombros. Los sobrevivientes cantamos, lloramos, y algunos llamaron a su madre. Creíamos que alguien vendría en nuestra ayuda, pero nadie vino. Hice un esfuerzo y saqué la cabeza de entre aquellas ruinas. Entonces me di cuenta del tamaño de los daños a mi alrededor. El cielo estaba muy oscuro y algo como un tornado o una gran bola de fuego, azotaba la ciudad."
Esta es una descripción de terror.
Y el último infierno conocido, ya en el siglo XXI, fue la cárcel de Guantánamo en Cuba, fundada por el gobierno de George Bush en 2002.
Aunque este libro es largo, es muy recomendable e informativa su lectura.
October 18, 2019
I'm always ready for a good book about hell, the underworld, eternal punishment, etc. Hell is one of those abstractions that almost everyone is familiar with, and can be universally defined as a place where no one wants to go. Except the band AC/DC is particularly fond of hell, as evidenced by "Hell's Bells," "Highway to Hell," and "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be." In any case, people are obsessed with hell, demons, the devil, and all that good stuff.
This morbid curiosity is probably why I liked this book so much. It chronicles the various incarnations of the place of punishment through various religions and mythologies. There are some similarities, like being somewhere underground, therefore opposite of paradise, and usually filled with an unquenchable fire along with other various torments. The appeal of this book is the variety in which these straightforward elements of punishment are described. My favorite descriptions came from The Vision of Tundale, which was filled with lots and lots of fire, screaming, and gnashing of teeth, but also flaying, decapitation, and other forms of hacking done to the souls of the impious and impure who pile sin upon sin. The devil himself is punished by being chained to a grill and seared over a great bed of hot coals all while rending the souls of the wicked with his teeth and claws. That's probably not what he was expecting when he rebelled against God.
Aside from the mythological aspects, the last parts of the book examine the hell that people inflict upon one another, such as the Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Birkenau, the atomic bombs the US dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the prison in Guantanamo Bay. This is an acknowledgement that humans don't need ethereal or otherworldly beings to inflict terrible pain and suffering. Maybe we should take a look at the last hundred years or so, interrogate the past, and find a better way for ourselves.
This morbid curiosity is probably why I liked this book so much. It chronicles the various incarnations of the place of punishment through various religions and mythologies. There are some similarities, like being somewhere underground, therefore opposite of paradise, and usually filled with an unquenchable fire along with other various torments. The appeal of this book is the variety in which these straightforward elements of punishment are described. My favorite descriptions came from The Vision of Tundale, which was filled with lots and lots of fire, screaming, and gnashing of teeth, but also flaying, decapitation, and other forms of hacking done to the souls of the impious and impure who pile sin upon sin. The devil himself is punished by being chained to a grill and seared over a great bed of hot coals all while rending the souls of the wicked with his teeth and claws. That's probably not what he was expecting when he rebelled against God.
Aside from the mythological aspects, the last parts of the book examine the hell that people inflict upon one another, such as the Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Birkenau, the atomic bombs the US dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the prison in Guantanamo Bay. This is an acknowledgement that humans don't need ethereal or otherworldly beings to inflict terrible pain and suffering. Maybe we should take a look at the last hundred years or so, interrogate the past, and find a better way for ourselves.
October 23, 2023
ׂׂૢ 3.5 stars
— i think this book presents some really interesting points and viewpoints on the metamorphosis of hell and humanity’s fascination with eternal damnation, however i wish the author put a bit more analysis of the texts in. for the most part, you just read excerpts from different historical texts with a short foreword..so less of an academic book and more of a collection than anything else. i didn’t hate it but i didn’t love it
— i think this book presents some really interesting points and viewpoints on the metamorphosis of hell and humanity’s fascination with eternal damnation, however i wish the author put a bit more analysis of the texts in. for the most part, you just read excerpts from different historical texts with a short foreword..so less of an academic book and more of a collection than anything else. i didn’t hate it but i didn’t love it
April 23, 2019
More interesting in concept than in execution. If you have more than a passing interest in the subject, the odds are good you've already read a solid percentage of the sources excerpted in this book. You may find a few new things to read, though, and it's not an unpleasant read, so the possibility of finding new materials to read arguably makes it worth reading.
June 21, 2024
This is not a book to enjoy as much as it is to learn from.
I don't believe in any of the 4000 or so gods that man has invented, nor do I believe in any of their places of afterlife. But I'm always interested in learning more about them.
I was actually hoping this would be more of a guided tour through the various Hells instead of a lot of direct quotes, but still they served the purpose.
What I learned from this is that Christians really want to scare the bejeezus out of anyone of their faith so they'll all be good...but damned if you're not sentenced to Hell for the lightest of infractions. There was a point when, hearing of the millions and millions of souls in Hell, I wondered, damn, is Heaven just three or four people hanging around bored out of their skulls?
I learned that a document created for Christian children to read and understand the intense, unending pain they would go through was utterly horrifying.
But it was the final passages, especially the Nazi deathcamp at Treblinka that taught me that, no matter what infernal demon or Satanic figure we can imagine, we can always come up with a more horrifying way of torturing each other.
I learned more than I actually wanted to.
I don't believe in any of the 4000 or so gods that man has invented, nor do I believe in any of their places of afterlife. But I'm always interested in learning more about them.
I was actually hoping this would be more of a guided tour through the various Hells instead of a lot of direct quotes, but still they served the purpose.
What I learned from this is that Christians really want to scare the bejeezus out of anyone of their faith so they'll all be good...but damned if you're not sentenced to Hell for the lightest of infractions. There was a point when, hearing of the millions and millions of souls in Hell, I wondered, damn, is Heaven just three or four people hanging around bored out of their skulls?
I learned that a document created for Christian children to read and understand the intense, unending pain they would go through was utterly horrifying.
But it was the final passages, especially the Nazi deathcamp at Treblinka that taught me that, no matter what infernal demon or Satanic figure we can imagine, we can always come up with a more horrifying way of torturing each other.
I learned more than I actually wanted to.
August 20, 2024
The Bible, or any other book, which teaches the doctrine of Hell torments, is not, cannot be, a revelation from a God of love and mercy.
- Austin Holyoake, Heaven & Hell: Where Situated? A Search After the Objects of Man's Fervent Hope & Abiding Terror quoted in The Penguin Book of Hell, p. 227
This collection brings together nearly three-thousand years of ideas about the punitive afterlife, from Greek and Roman texts that influenced Christian ideas to post-Enlightenment, secular repudiations of the concept of hell. There's little from the Bible itself, and nothing Jewish before the twentieth century, because hell (and heaven) barely feature in the Bible itself. Rather, the result of early persecutions of Christians has led them into a martyr complex that persists to this day, in which they imagine torments for their so-called sinners, calling 'justice' what should rightfully be known as 'vengeance'.
The concept is huge - and, I would argue, incomplete without equal consideration of heaven. So the task editor Scot G. Bruce has set himself is extremely difficult and by necessity cannot be complete. While there is a good selection here, several of the visions of hell and journeys through it feel repetitive. There are also some weird editorial choices, such as ending almost every chapter heading with an endnote which gives the reference for what the extract actually is, rather than simply having a subtitle that says that. The commentary is a little thin, which is probably fine for most readers, but I would have liked a bit more context.
What is truly excellent about this volume, however, is the decision to end with four extracts from the last century on the ways in which hell has been brought to Earth. Vasily Grossman and Yoshitaka Kawamoto both draw parallels to Dante, in that the death camps of the Nazis and the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima both go well beyond the horrors he described. Then, in his essay about the experience of solitary confinement in US prisons, William Blake evokes so many of the Christian descriptions of hell of the preceding two millennia. The US penal system has appointed itself God, enacting vengeance on those it deems sinners that no loving creature could consider just.
I wish, in some ways, that this had been more of a history of hell that ended up being about the necessity of prison reform/abolition. But that is not what the book aimed to be. It is a source book on hell, and it is largely a good one. I just appreciated the final political statement the most.
October 18, 2025
This was a real experience.
Firstly Tundale was a real diva.
Second, I still think Cerberus is just misunderstood.
And a special shoutout to the Catholics. They truely went to the lowest depths of hell in the name of religious guilt. A book about the torment’s of hell just for children is evil.
Firstly Tundale was a real diva.
Second, I still think Cerberus is just misunderstood.
And a special shoutout to the Catholics. They truely went to the lowest depths of hell in the name of religious guilt. A book about the torment’s of hell just for children is evil.
October 1, 2025
if you ever needed proof religion, at least as we know it, is a manmade tool to subjugate the masses and keep them in fear, here’s the book for you
December 18, 2018
Using an impressive mixture of well-known classics and obscure texts, Scott G. Bruce carves a historical narrative of mankind imagining punishments upon itself and then, from the 20th century forward, making good on its collective imagination. Even in this greatest hits of brutal reads, some odd and refreshing moments of grace shine through in the earlier writings, such as a monk passing through Hell who offers Judas a moment of rest from his torment. From Dante forward, however, the tension between justice and grace seems to gradually erode at the expense of grace, and by the 20th century any hope of justice itself is suspect. If you’re not squeamish, this is a fascinating study of the element of physical torment in our collective imagination, and of how much of humanity is lost when we stop asking merciful questions.
January 9, 2019
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Penguin for free in exchange for an honest review.
Scott G. Bruce curated an excellent anthology of stories and writing about Hell that spans from the ancient world to the present. I enjoyed seeing how interpretations of Hell changed over time. The medieval and early modern thoughts about a very real Hell were horrifying. Modern writing and ideas about Hell were even scarier because the hellscapes were happening on Earth, perpetrated by other people.
There were a few uneven spots in the book. It would have been great to see more pre-modern/modern/postmodern selections. It also would have been a nice contrast to see non-Christian ideas from later than antiquity.
Overall, this was a well-thought-out anthology with strong introductory material before each section.
Scott G. Bruce curated an excellent anthology of stories and writing about Hell that spans from the ancient world to the present. I enjoyed seeing how interpretations of Hell changed over time. The medieval and early modern thoughts about a very real Hell were horrifying. Modern writing and ideas about Hell were even scarier because the hellscapes were happening on Earth, perpetrated by other people.
There were a few uneven spots in the book. It would have been great to see more pre-modern/modern/postmodern selections. It also would have been a nice contrast to see non-Christian ideas from later than antiquity.
Overall, this was a well-thought-out anthology with strong introductory material before each section.
February 21, 2019
This isn’t something I usually pick up to read, but the description of “three thousand years of visions of hell” weirdly intrigued me. I love historical and anthropological studies of our past as a species and the cross-cultural analyses that go along with them.
This book sets up the chronological interpretations of hell throughout time in a fairly straightforward way. My only concern was the frequent inclusion of raw material, while interesting and relevant, that more or less required the reader to make their own interpretations of the literature.
Overall, this was a decent study of the place of eternal damnation as described in the Judeo-Christian texts.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book sets up the chronological interpretations of hell throughout time in a fairly straightforward way. My only concern was the frequent inclusion of raw material, while interesting and relevant, that more or less required the reader to make their own interpretations of the literature.
Overall, this was a decent study of the place of eternal damnation as described in the Judeo-Christian texts.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 19, 2018
I was disappointed with this book. While I expected it to cover classics and the Bible it seemed that the focus remained entirely there. I was looking for modern volumes too. I would have also like to have seen a little bit more narrative between the excerpts. It also struck me as bizarre to discuss real-life instances to the extent they did. Granted there are real-world hells that need to be discussed but I didn't think this was the volume that should have gone into that topic.
July 29, 2019
As a collection of how the Western World has depicted Hell in various forms through literature, this book succeeds. The collection of well known and obscure texts provides something for everyone that is looking to understand, even a little bit more, of how society has used, pictured, and continues to be fascinated with the idea of a hell and eternal punishment for humanity.
September 7, 2020
First part of the book: fascinating, containing extracts from The Odyssey, The Aeneid or The divine comedy about Hell. Second part, the largest one: containing Christian texts with you will burn in Hell if you don't do this or that, interesting from a knowledge perspective, hard to read from a logical, moral perspective. Religion of terror seems right. The third part contains Hell on Earth, about Nazis, wars, nuclear danger, prisons and solitary confinement. This was interesting and moving, because unfortunately it is real, it is history or, in case of prisons, current times. Overall, I think it is an important read due to this concept invented by humans called Hell and his gigantic impact on humanity. For me, it was really useful to see how I react to Christian texts and rules and what questions/objections I have.
April 14, 2025
3.2 ⭐️
My own fault for not realising this before I read it but pretty much the first 75% of this book is very repetitive, not at the fault of the author, but because Hell is western Christian invention. Most versions of ‘Hell’ are almost identical, felt like I read the same thing 20 times after one another, with the few exceptions like the very start with Greek mythology & the gruesomeness of The Vision of Tundale. The last 25% was actually super moving though with real world accounts of the Holocaust, Hiroshima bombing and solitary confinent diaries. One things for sure, humans have indeed created a landscape far worse than the original idea of Hell right here on Earth.
“In an iconic reversal, we have become the very demons our ancestors trembled to meet when death foreclosed on their lives.”
My own fault for not realising this before I read it but pretty much the first 75% of this book is very repetitive, not at the fault of the author, but because Hell is western Christian invention. Most versions of ‘Hell’ are almost identical, felt like I read the same thing 20 times after one another, with the few exceptions like the very start with Greek mythology & the gruesomeness of The Vision of Tundale. The last 25% was actually super moving though with real world accounts of the Holocaust, Hiroshima bombing and solitary confinent diaries. One things for sure, humans have indeed created a landscape far worse than the original idea of Hell right here on Earth.
“In an iconic reversal, we have become the very demons our ancestors trembled to meet when death foreclosed on their lives.”
November 16, 2025
8/10
Aw hell yeah, my guy just loves me some Nine Inch Nails.
Aw hell yeah, my guy just loves me some Nine Inch Nails.
February 9, 2024
Монах наблюдал, как души усопших пытают жгучим огнем или леденящим холодом, и спраши вал, смотрит ли он на Ад, а его проводник ангел отвечал, что это еще не Ад.
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May 18, 2024Ok the last like 15%, holy shit, no rating as it's nonfictiony
July 11, 2023
This was a pretty interesting trip through the imaginations of eternal suffering throughout history and many of the accounts collected in this book were quite vivid. I don't know if fun is the right word, but yeah, I had a pretty good time cringing in discomfort and disgust at some of the descriptions. The "Hell for Children" segment was just wild to me, the Tundale stuff was probably the most intriguing, and the account of Treblinka was gutting. I actually found the 20th Century accounts of suffering outside of the biblical Hell to be the most moving and fascinating, but the inclusion of the Guantanamo Mixtape was a bit much compared to the suffering of fire and brimstone of the earlier accounts, or the Nazi Death Camp and Hiroshima accounts that came right before it; I think ending with Hiroshima would have been perfect as we got to see the burning of Hell in actuality here on Earth.
August 8, 2019
Effectively gathering a list of prominent, and not so prominent, depictions of Hell, this book harnesses centuries of terror regarding the afterlife, specifically the Christian afterlife.
While I greatly appreciate the sources that this book provided, I wished that it had been written as a book on the afterlife across many cultures. As it is, it became somewhat dull to go through several iterations of a flame soaked vision.
I also felt that the editor was grasping for straws by the end, insisting that figurative Hells on Earth should be tied to the figurative Hells of superstitious religious zealots. The end sources are not what I assume most readers would be picking up this book for despite how heartwrenching they all are. For an introduction to Hell landscapes, this book can suffice, but it does little beyond that.
While I greatly appreciate the sources that this book provided, I wished that it had been written as a book on the afterlife across many cultures. As it is, it became somewhat dull to go through several iterations of a flame soaked vision.
I also felt that the editor was grasping for straws by the end, insisting that figurative Hells on Earth should be tied to the figurative Hells of superstitious religious zealots. The end sources are not what I assume most readers would be picking up this book for despite how heartwrenching they all are. For an introduction to Hell landscapes, this book can suffice, but it does little beyond that.
February 20, 2019
A fine, neatly kept and well curated collection of writings about Hell since the days of the Greeks and Romans. Following the history of the imagery is facinating, and Mr. Bruce's commentary and history are very helpful for providing context.
While some of the selection almost come off as melodramaticly comedic ('Hell For Children') or even kitchy, the real imrpession of Hell come from the last section - selections of wrtiting about man made hells. War, genocide and even isolation. A great read on a darkly fascinating subject that should leave you feeling educated and thoughtful.
While some of the selection almost come off as melodramaticly comedic ('Hell For Children') or even kitchy, the real imrpession of Hell come from the last section - selections of wrtiting about man made hells. War, genocide and even isolation. A great read on a darkly fascinating subject that should leave you feeling educated and thoughtful.
December 4, 2018
A great compendium of writing on hell and hellish places from ancient Greece and Rome through early and later Christianity, as well as the more literal hells of the Shoah and other genocides. The excerpted texts are presented with backgrounds about their authors and time periods, and offer fascinating information about how people have conceptualized hell in different social, political, and geographical contexts.
April 6, 2019
A good primer/anthology about the Western/Christian & contemporary view of Hell or the Underworld. Reaches back to the Egyptians but really starts off with the Greeks and goes up to the early 21st Century.
Definitely, a valuable resource for those who've not been raised with any faith or raised outside of the West...particularly useful if you are studying Western cultural history.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Is a companion to The Penguin Book of the Undead by the same author.
Definitely, a valuable resource for those who've not been raised with any faith or raised outside of the West...particularly useful if you are studying Western cultural history.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Is a companion to The Penguin Book of the Undead by the same author.
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