History Main / AHellOfATime

* Music/{{ACDC}} would also like to remind you that "Hell Ain't A Bad Place ''to Be''". Notably, the song isn't a literal depiction of hell - the narrator is in a hellishly turbulent relationship, and compares his girlfriend to a "demon" for doing things like cheating and spending all his money, but concludes "hell ain't a bad place to be" as long as she keeps making love to him.

* German newspaper comic ''Touche'' by ©Tom has reoccuring strip of [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] welcomming new residents to Hell. The devil is a fat and bald naked man with glasses who is usually much more interested in his notepad than talking to the new arrivals, which makes most people a little confused about what place they've ended up. But he soon informs them about the particularly cruel punishment they [[IronicHell prepared just for them]]. ([[http://www.taz.de/digitaz/.tom/tomdestages?day=2003/12/11 This one]] is about a department store cashier who died during christmas season.
** Translation: [[spoiler: "Ah, the quiet!" "Quiet? The last one thought it sounded like a roller coaster full of acrophobiacs, and he was deaf!" "Well then you should try working in a department store! Oh, that Christmas recorder music! The Chinese water torture is a joke next to that..." "Shultz! A fan!"]]

* ''Radio/OldHarrysGame'' is set in Hell - and while the descriptions of individual punishments sound unpleasant (The Devil's BumblingSidekick is ordered to literally eat himself for instance) they don't seem to actually bother the protagonists much, or last long. The unhappiest person actually appears to be Satan himself, a miserable, self loathing prison warden who can never escape his job and only painfully remember his days as an angel.

* In Jacques Offenbach's operetta ''Theatre/OrpheusInTheUnderworld'', the gods hold a massive party in Hell and dance to ''the'' most well-known can-can tune. Though it's not the same thing as the Christian hell, in ancient Myth/ClassicalMythology, ''hell'' is practically a portmanteau synonym of afterlife.

* Toyed with in the first series of ''Series/BlackAdder''. After being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund is charged with ensuring a nobleman leaves his lands to the crown instead of the church. He does this by explaining that Heaven is for people who like praising God and watering pot plants, while Hell is for pillage, adultery, and so on (the nobleman admitted to all of these, including incest ''with his own mother''). Judging from the man's reaction just before dying, this is probably not true, though this might just have been his death throes.

* Played with in ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' and its sister show ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss''. On one hand, Hell's denizens are seemingly allowed to do whatever they like. On the other hand, "whatever they like" usually means all kinds of mayhem, and the overpopulation is so bad that Heaven sends death squads once a year. Despite this, the characters who are most miserable in Hell aren't the sinners who were sent there, but rather any native-born demons who somehow ended up developing strong moral compasses, such as [[PrincessClassic Princess]] [[AntiAntiChrist Charlie]] (in the former show) and [[TokenGoodTeammate Moxxie]] (in the latter).

* In the True Cheater Ending of ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', [[spoiler:Hell turns out to be a pretty nice place for Vincent. He gets a replica of his old apartment in Hell and has a beautiful wife. Several weeks there, and he becomes a powerful incubus with an entire harem of succubi enamored with his power, including his wife Catherine. He also uses his demonic father-in-law as a throne.]]

* In''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'', the most hated youkai in Gensokyo and nearly all of the oni were once banished to the Underworld. When you meet Yuugi, she tells you the Underworld has become an oni's paradise-- they can drink and fight as much as they want, and nobody will stop or smite them.

* In the infamous ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode'' "A Nice Place To Visit", this trope is actually [[IronicHell used as a punishment]]; the VillainProtagonist also requests to be transferred to Hell in implicit hopes of a more straight case of this, immediately before being informed that ThisIsntHeaven.

* Al Bundy's hell in the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' episode "Damn Bundys" shows the devil (play by Robert Englund) punish him by giving him only Weenie Tots (his favorite food) to eat because it'll make him go to the bathroom for long periods of time (the reason ''why'' is his favorite food) and not allowing him to see his family ever again, so from his perspective, is heaven. However, once Satan figures this out, he quickly turns it on Al when the rest of the Bundy's, along with Marcy and Jefferson, also end up in Hell (the family died in a car crash after taking Al's body to the dump, and Marcy and Jefferson slipped and died while dancing on Al's grave). Satan subjects Al to a FateWorseThanDeath - eternity with his family pretty much exactly like their old life, with a few added infernal punishments (Peggy can't buy stuff from the Home Shopping channel because her hands have turned into hooves and she cant lift the phone, Kelly keeps scaring off all her boyfriends because her face turns into a monster, and Bud's hands have become lobster claws and keep popping his sex dolls).

* Subverted in the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' parody video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqELqRCnW6g Screw The Nether]]. The Nether (the Minecraft equivalent of Hell) is at first presented as a great place to live, but any benefits it has to prove to be overshadowed by the incessant mob attacks. LetsPlay/LewisBrindley then goes into a rant about how he misses the overworld, as well the fact that the titular dimension's hot and never rains, before leaving for the overworld.

* Although ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'' mostly features [[IronicHell Ironic Hells]] tailored to the characters, a deleted scene would have added some aspects of this; before catching Satan's attention, the duo would have been forced by a demon to break rocks with hammers. Bill discovers he actually really enjoys doing so.

* The first verse of Music/DavidByrne's "You & Eye" involves winding up in Hell, and finding that it has good music, and better barbecues and beer than on Earth. "And darling, I think you'll like it here."

* Averted InUniverse in the ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', when the guys see Hell and say "We got totally lied to by our album covers, man."
* "Summer In Hell" by [[{{Music/TheB52s}} Fred Schneider and Shake Society]]: Fred finds himself in hell, but doesn't mind because "It's always summer in hell", as well as because "the party never ends / and, you'll see all your friends there".

* Averted In ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', when the guys see Hell and say "We got totally lied to by our album covers, man."

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the setting embraces Buddhist beliefs of the afterlife, with hell being a place of extreme damnation where those who end up there will be tortured for as long as it takes until their souls are cleansed to be reincarnated, as the series progresses we see several demons getting their ticket to hell, however, after the series’ end Gotouge made an oneshot chapter contained in the second Databook that is [[spoiler:curiously humorous in tone, yes it shows many of the key demons faced in the story stuck in hell but instead of being tortured they are just having a group meeting, talking to each other about how they died, to which Breathing techniques they were killed with, only Muzan seems really annoyed while everyone else just accepts their situation]].

* Music/AliceCooper's "Wish You Were Here" (from the 1976 album ''Alice Cooper Goes to Hell'') comes very close to being the TropeNamer with its "Having a wonderful time, my dear - wish you were here." Ultimately a subversion, as the rest of the album makes clear that the song is ironic.

** 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 in ragged clothes being eaten at by flames. When [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Burns]] looks into it, [[HellHasNewManagement he sees himself dressed as a king]] and eating Smithers' head like a candied apple. "[[CatchPhrase Excellent!]]"

* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'' The Dark Forest (the Hell equivalent in ''Literature/WarriorCats'') isn't quite as miserable as in canon, despite its rather creepy and unpleasant architecture, and some cats manage to find happiness in this afterlife.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* In the infamous ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode'' "A Nice Place To Visit", this trope is actually [[IronicHell used as a punishment]].

* In ''LightNovel/ASimpleSurvey'' File 13 features a world where humans discovered a mean to view hell and discovered it was actually a beautiful beach resort. The demoness Ashtart claims that demons are too lazy and contrary to follow their assigned role of punishing the wicked, instead building an afterlife that might be more pleasant than heaven. Potentially subverted when Gabriel appears at the end and warns that the resort is just an illusion to lure in humans.

[[folder:FanFiction]]
* In [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/388353/best-hell-ever Best Hell Ever]], Twilight Sparkle gets sent to Hell as part of a prank by Discord, and is condemned to what was intended to be an IronicHell for someone guilty of sloth: having to sort an infinite library filled with every book that was, will be, or was never written. [[CuteBookworm Twilight]] couldn't be happier, and not only manages to sort all the books but makes good headway into reading all of them before the demons kick her out.
* [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} Ibuki]] ends up in Hell during one story in ''Fanfic/SuperRWBYSisters'' while looking for Sonia. She not only has a blast, but manages to take down some of the demons such as [[Videogame/Doom2016 the Marauder]] while she was down there.

* Most of Nippon Ichi's titles (''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'', ''Videogame/MakaiKingdom'', etc.) take place in various Netherworlds, hellish realms populated by demons and monsters... who are having a fairly normal and good life, generally. The demons ''claim'' that they are all evil and terrible and all, but most of them live fairly normal, decent lives with only the occasional PokeThePoodle moment. The worst they can get is beating up someone for angering them or taking their stuff by force. Sinners ending up there tend to become full demons and have ample opportunity to kick butt and get comfortable around the place. Serious sinners have to work off their debts as [[ButtMonkey prinnies]] first, though.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* [[ComicStrip/TheFarSide You know,]] [[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SLuSXRBPN_Q/UKL61Bh-LxI/AAAAAAAACC8/l6p6MCJ8zrU/s1600/WhistlinginHell.jpg we're just not reaching that guy.]]

* From Billy Joel's "Blonde Over Blue":

* The MMORPG ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has what is, given the humor, probably a ShoutOut in the form of Hey Deze. There is a typical "arcane" gate which leads to the city of Pandemonium (which has a comedy club and an arena hosting a rock concert), and a "Waffle Haus" which leads [[SelfImposedChallenge Bad Moon]] adventurers to a neighborhood near the River Styx.

* ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'' has a variation, Suzuki Iruma had a terrible life on Earth, with abusive parents always exploiting him, and one day, his parents sold him to a demon and he is taken alive to the underworld which is not a place where dead humans go, it's a world populated by demons and demonic animals and he is the only human, the demon who bought and adopted him turns out to be a nice guy who treats him well, gives him everything he wants and he gets to live in a mansion, he is allowed to eat all the food he wants, demon food looks scary and gross but he likes it, while in the human world he constantly starved, and when he has to go to school, he must keep the secret that he is human or else the other demons might eat him, at first he is scared, but he quickly likes his colleagues who become his real friends, some demon girls also become his love interests, while on Earth he had no real friends, his parents didn't even allow him to go to school, at one point he realizes how his life in hell is much better than his past life and doesn't want to go back to the human world.
** The plot slowly explains why the demon world looks so nice and peaceful, demons used to be barbaric creatures that preyed on humans as food and had a lot of fights between them, but they slowly became a more organized society and mundane entertainment like music, sports and videogames are making demons calmer.
** Of course, the story slowly shows the downsides of living in the demon world, when he befriends a demon that at first looks kind and calm, but [[spoiler: it's just a façade, he wants to bring demon society back to what it was and plans to blow up the entire school and kill all the demon students and teachers]], and not all the demon brutality is gone, anger and stress can still bring back their natural instincts, and the school still has torture classes, and of course, Iruma needs to keep intact the secret that he is human.