"Later, they would come to agree that it was actually the least awful thing to happen. Initially not so certain, McGregor pointed out that the man survived, and would therefore relive the events every second of every day of his existence. That, he felt, should count for something. But Shaw reminded him of what they'd seen, or a few choice highlights: Fingers and thumbs, the place ghosts take children, poor Hunzikker down on his knees for eternity. And McGregor was forced to concede the point."
Written by Garth Ennis, "A Walk Through Hell" is considered to be a modern horror story. After a gunman seemingly kills a group of people at random in a shopping mall, FBI Agents Shaw and McGregor are surprised to find out that the shooter was actually a witness for a suspected pedophile that they had dealt with some time ago, but when a supposed illegal ivory shipment is tracked down at a warehouse, the two realize as they enter that place that there was much more to that case then they thought. And the horrors that await them and humanity...
This work provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Shaw actually manages to escape hell despite everything that happened to her partner and everyone else that went into that warehouse and winds up in a roadside diner. But then she hears on TV about a race riot erupting from a Black Lives Matter protest over the police shooting of a black suspect, and a white man in the diner openly talks about "stringing up" black people in their own streets. No one in the diner, including the man's own family, reacts to his utterance in any way except for a young woman who casts a disgusted look in the man's direction as she turns to leave. This, followed by her hearing on TV about a governor seeking re-election making bigoted comments towards gay and transgender people, shows Shaw that open bigotry is becoming something acceptable to do. In response, Shaw sets off to assassinate the governor in some kind of attempt to fight against the growing evil engulfing humanity. She's gunned down in the attempt and ends up right back in hell for good.
- All Just a Dream: This trope is sarcastically suggested by the Anti-Christ before Agent Shaw returns to Earth/reality.
- Amoral Attorney: Carnahan claims his lawyer and the firm he worked for knew Paul was an absolute monster even before they agreed to defend him.
- Animalistic Abomination: The last of his forms the Anti-Christ reveals to Agent Shaw is that of a giant monstrous coyote.
- Author Tract: In several flashback scenes the protagonists discuss modern American culture in a way that demonstrates Garth Ennis's thoughts on the subject. He also really wants the reader to know that Religion Is Wrong and also includes a sideline of Capitalism Is Bad.
- An Aesop: Evil truly wins when we normalize it.
- Artistic License – Biology: The book repeats the disproven "fact" that hair continues to grow after death. In the twisted repeat of Paul Carnahan's interrogation by the protagonists Paul's lawyer is shown committing suicide by swallowing his tongue and choking on it, which is impossible. Of course, considering the Mind Screw nature of where they are, normal biology doesn't necessarily apply.
- The Antichrist: Carnahan's true identity. The worst part is that God apparently planned this.
- Armored Closet Gay: As a teen McGregor's school bully Patrick Nathan pushed violence and deception to the extreme to hide his own homosexuality. Patrick lampshades this as an adult when he says none of that was necessary as his sexually depraved business associates don't really care who he fucks.
- Bad Future: According to the Anti-Christ the upcoming decades will be so horrifying that a brief glimpse of the future compelled his accomplices and victims to commit suicide.
- Body Horror: The few inhuman monsters shown in the story are examples of this. Several characters who suffer a Fate Worse than Death are also shown suffering like this.
- Book Ends: "And then there was what happened to us..."
- Bottomless Magazines: Agents Shaw and McGregor first realize something is very weird when they find their missing comrade Hunzikker surrounded by many more spent shells than his pistol can hold. That and witnessing Hunzikker repeatedly shoot himself even while half his skull is already shot off.
- Break Them by Talking: Paul Carnahan never assaults the protagonists directly, but does a good job of injuring their mental health just by describing his depraved history and philosophy.
- Broken Pedestal: Shaw suffers a major case of this in the penultimate issue, when she learns that her boss and mentor Agent Driscoll had previously uncovered the conspiracy to protect Carnahan; not only did she sit on the information, but she also manipulated Shaw into taking the law into her own hands and killing Carnahan, thereby setting off the events of the story.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: What humanity has ultimately become in the modern political/social media age and why it's the perfect environment for Carnahan's true plans.
- The Conspiracy: Paul Carnahan tells the FBI agents it took a conspiracy of many influential law enforcement and medical professionals to give him a new identity and release him. Paul says most of the conspirators were simply bribed but hints a Religion of Evil financed it all. Carnahan's records are hidden thanks to a conspiracy within the FBI which goes at least as high as Director Joe Rogers.
- Crapsack World: So much so that it's arguable whether Carnahan or humanity itself is the bigger monster. It's telling when even the world of Crossed has more hope than the setting of this story.
- Dark Secret: Agent Shaw murdered Paul Carnahan in cold blood. The Anti-Christ calls her out for hiding the truth of Carnahan's confession to avoid drawing suspicion to herself.
- Death of a Child: The first scene shows a baby being shot and the murder of children is a recurring theme probably because it is an act of ultimate Evil.
- Depraved Homosexual: Patrick Nathan, the classmate who used McGregor and faked his suicide attempt to make sure that no one would believe him. When McGregor confronts him years later, it's revealed that he's never repented what he did. If anything, he became worse, actively partaking in constant sex and drug parties where he very likely keeps raping people.
- Devil, but No God: It's either this, or God and the Devil were always the exact same being.
- Dirty Coward: From what little we see of Agent Goss this is his main character trait.
- Downer Beginning: The very first scene is a baby and its mother getting gunned down during a mass-shooting at a shopping mall.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Subverted. The FBI agents weren't so much dragged into hell as they just walked into it. After all, who would suspect a random warehouse?
- Driven to Suicide: What Carnahan manages to do to multiple people, whether by his orders or by driving them so full of despair that they do it willingly.
- Downer Ending: Shaw, McGregor, their co-workers and their boss are all left in hell to suffer horribly, Carnahan gets away scot-free to continue his plans to destroy humanity, and the world at large is already terrible and full of enough evil to welcome him.
- Easily Forgiven: Deconstruction. McGregor has a past story told to Shaw of him confronting a fellow classmate who had raped him and faked his suicide attempt to make sure no one believed him. McGregor says to the former classmate that he's gotten past this and forgives him. The classmate, however, is completely unrepentant and shoves it in McGregor's face, telling him that he has a cushy job that pays him really well and he actively partakes in constant sex and drug parties where he likely still keeps on raping. Even if you can get past something horrible that was done to you, you still need to stop the one who actually did the horrible act to prevent others from suffering the same.
- Eldritch Location: The story proper begins with the protagonists walking into one of these. Shaw and McGregor both immediately fall unconscious upon entering the warehouse and wake up without discernable heartbeats. McGregor grows two weeks worth of facial hair in two hours. A twisted version of Notre Dame cathedral springs up in the warehouse halls. This is just a small sampling of the bizarre, supernatural occurrences the protagonists encounter there. However it is implied that this madness is due to the presense of the Anti-Christ and his Reality Warper powers rather than having anything to do with their earthly location.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The protagonists go on a walk through Hell and that's about it; sure they witness major revelations along the way but they still have no real influence over how events unfold.
- Fate Worse than Death: Multiple versions of it to boot.
- Flat Character: We learn that Agent Hunzikker is a father, and that's just about the only distinguishing trait he gets.
- For the Evulz: While Carnahan does have an actual purpose and plan as the Anti-Christ, most of how he actually goes about doing this is purely this, as well as what he decided to do to Shaw and the others purely out of spite for catching him the first time, even though it was all part of the plan to begin with.
- God Is Evil: The antagonist argues that since the world is full of evil and humanity commits so much evil their Creator must also be evil. The character who says this is the self-professed Anti-Christ so his take on God is dubious.
- Good Is Impotent: A Discussed Trope when the antagonist asks the protagonists if Jesus actually improved life for most people. The protagonists concede that while Christ and his message were good it was quickly corrupted and life went on unchanged for most people.
- Guns Are Worthless: All the protagonists are American law enforcement who carry guns and there's only one scene where their guns have any effect on an antagonist at all, and even that is ultimately shown to be useless.
- To Hell and Back: This is the main plot thread although, unlike many examples of this trope, the protagonists enter Hell unwittingly. Also, Shaw is the only one to make it back.
- Hope Spot: Driscoll seemingly wakes up in the middle of her wandering the warehouse in the middle of what looks like organized rooms designed to hold, drug and mislead people via puppetry and fake body parts. All of it could easily and rationally explain all the horrible sights as being done via drug hallucinations and hypnotism. But then she wakes up again and not only realizes it was all real but that now her torture is up next.
- Humans Are Bastards: Carnahan barely had to do anything outside of killing some children. The rest of humanity is already rotten enough. When Shaw confronts him after witnessing an especially sadistic scene he calmly replies, "I told you, this wasn't my doing. These are the things you people do to each other."
- Informed Attribute: In a flashback Assistant-Director Driscoll mentions that she thinks Agent Hunzikker is quite brave, but we never see him in anything but fear and despair during the main plot.
- Inherent in the System: While good does exist, humanity itself is too flawed and corrupt for any good actions to ultimately have any lasting meaning and effect. Exemplified in Shaw, who proves to be the staunchest and most steadfast of the characters who oppose Carnahan, going so far as to actually managing to escape hell. Yet, her attempt to buy time for humanity by assassinating a bigoted, homophobic governor fails, ultimately resulting in her winding up back in hell, while humanity continues on its path to destruction.
- Karma Houdini: Almost every villain and antagonist either goes unpunished or is rewarded for their evil.
- Knight in Sour Armor: FBI Assistant-Director Driscoll is very cynical due to growing up in Ireland during The Troubles and facing decades of male-chauvinism in the Bureau but she's still bravely committed to taking care of her staff.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The visions that drive people to suicide are never illustrated and only vaguely described.
- Unwanted Revival: Agent Gosse has a heart-attack when confronted by monstrosities and his last thought is that at least the monsters didn't get him. Then Paul revives him with CPR to face what is likely a Fate Worse than Death.
- Meaningful Name: Paul Carnahan is much like a modern-day Evil Counterpart to the Apostle Paul in the Holy Bible
- Never Suicide: Shaw shoots Paul in the side of his head then frames it as a suicide.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Paul Carnahan tells Agent Shaw she helped his plans come to fruition by killing him, which allowed his body to become the vessel for the Anti-Christ.
- Non Sequitur Environment: While the protagonists explore the warehouse it suddenly transforms into a twisted, terrifying version of Notre Dame cathedral.
- To Create a Playground for Evil: Implied to be Carnahan's ultimate plan for humanity and the world, as he considers himself to be a "guide" for humanity. Such a goal is already well on the way toward completion, seeing as how human society as depicted in the comic is increasingly jaded, cruel and morally bankrupt.
- Pædo Hunt: Paul Carnahan and his various accomplices have kidnapped, abused, and killed over twenty children across three States. Tracking down this interstate criminal conspiracy is why the FBI Agents get involved with him in the first place.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Agent Shaw discovers the body of a child victim in a winter coat hanging from a bird feeder (the child's body was dismembered and decapitated).
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Agent Addison is a minor antagonist who got in a fight with Shaw in the past. Addison is a white man who is skeptical and suspicous of women and minorities working for the FBI.
- Psychological Horror: Most of the comics unsettling moments are based around unraveling the psychological issues of the characters, rather than putting them in physical danger.
- Psychological Torment Zone: The warehouse/Hell is one, as it traps its victims in their worst fears and traumas.
- Recovered Addict: Heroin addiction and getting through withdrawal is the least awful thing in Paul Carnahan's backstory.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Agent Shaw is stubborn, quick to anger, and antisocial while her partner Agent McGregor is relatively calm and forgiving.
- Retired Monster: The FBI Deputy Director recounts a story to Shaw about how she discovered an old man who was a literal Nazi but had managed to live a normal life in America.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Despite commiting the most heinous crimes Paul Carnahan is able to escape punishment by hiring expert lawyers and through bribery. It's implied his wealth comes from rich and influential 'disciples' in a Religion of Evil that wish to pave the way for the coming Anti-Christ.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: FBI Agent Shaw decides to kill Paul Carnahan herself when it becomes apparent he'll avoid legal punishment.
- Self-Made Orphan: Paul Carnahan stabbed his family as a young boy. 'Paul Carnahan' isnt his birth-name but an assumed identity he was given when he was released from imprisonment.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Patrick Nathan, an extremely sadistic bully from McGregor's past, brushes off his brief speech on the values of respect and forgiveness with a Cluster F-Bomb.
- Sleeping Their Way to the Top: Paul Carnahan accuses Agent Shaw of this while she's interrogating him, although it was just a lazy, misogynistic insult.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Hector and Beatriz Ortega are an illegal immigrant couple that fit this trope as well as Posthumous Character. It's implied that Beatriz gave birth to the Anti-Christ.
- Smug Snake: This is how the Anti-Christ comes across.
- Spoiler Title: When the protagonists start speculating that they're in Hell it isn't hard for the reader to figure out that's right.
- Straight Gay: Agent McGregor is a very plain and straight-laced man who most readers wouldn't infer as being homosexual if it weren't for other characters bringing it up in flashback scenes.
- Sympathetic Murderer: FBI Agent Shaw forces Paul Carnahan to write a criminal confession at gunpoint then she shoots him and makes it look like a suicide. What makes her sympathetic is the fact Paul is a pedophile serial killer who was escaping justice with the help of The Conspiracy.
- Thanatos Gambit: Paul Carnahan says his death was necessary to become an 'empty vessel' for the Anti-Christ to possess
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: The actual Nazi that appears briefly in a flashback looks like a kindly old man. Paul Carnahan, despite being Evil incarnate, is portrayed as the most average-looking middle-aged white man imaginable.
- Trauma Conga Line: When Paul reveals his past he talks about how he was tortured and sexually abused in juvenile prison in an escalating series of incidents that culminates with him literally eating shit. As Shaw puts it, "Your 'Life Story' is a goddamned parade of atrocity." Unlike most examples of this trope Paul says he deliberately sought this abuse to 'discover the edge of humanity.'
- Twisted Christmas: While not really emphasized this is a horror story that takes place on Christmas Eve.
- Twofer Token Minority: McGregor is both homosexual and a bi-racial Asian-American, which Shaw points out during one of their arguments about American culture.
- We ARE Struggling Together: A Discussed Trope by McGregor and Shaw when he mentions that the majority of white women vote for anti-gay politicians and she replies that the various marginalized groups in America don't actually have much in common besides being marginalized.
- Villains Out Shopping: A brief flashback shows two Nazi SS Officers having lunch at a Paris cafe by Notre Dame.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: FBI Agent Shaw is willing to take extreme and illegal actions to stop the antagonists. This extremism leads to Shaw commiting one assassination and failing an attempt at another.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: In a flashback Agent Addison gets in a fist-fight with Agent Shaw and acts shocked and remorseful at punching a woman when he knocks her down with a hook. Rather than seeming sincere this act makes him look even more condescending and bigoted.
- You Can't Fight Fate: The antagonist tells the protagonists this and, in their case at least, he's right. It's also implied the despair of this belief compelled many minor characters to commit suicide.
