Bookshelf of Hell
Here are some classic texts and non-fiction works that I found especially useful while creating the version of Hell in Shaken Loose.
The History of Hell by Alice K. Turner. My favorite overview of how the concept of Hell has evolved over the centuries. It includes many wonderful visual depictions of Hell from artists throughout the centuries.
The Penguin Book of Hell, edited by Scott R. Bruce. No illustrations, but excerpts from famous texts such as Virgil's Aeneid plus a horrific 19th century treatise on Hell written explicitly for small children.
Paradise Lost by John Milton. I like the Oxford University Press edition with commentary by Philip Pullman. Or look for an edition with the famous illustrations by Gustave Doré.
Inferno, the first book of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. There are many translations; choose one with good explanatory footnotes for the many historical and mythical references.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Chapter Three has one of the most terrifying visions of Hell that I encountered, in which the fictional Father Arnall preaches a Hellfire sermon to Stephen Dedalus and his young schoolmates.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is an equally savage real-life sermon by the famous 18th century American preacher Jonathan Edwards. "The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked."
The Vision of Tundale, written in Latin in the 1200s and translated into Middle English in the 1400s, is a classic medieval Hell story. A sinful Irish knight dies, is led by an angel through Hell and Heaven, and returns to life repentant and ready to live virtuously.
Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur, by Salomon Kroonenberg (translated by Andy Brown). This one is a bit different. The geologist author gathers literary descriptions of Hell and travels the globe to find where these entrances to the underworld might be located, and what might have been the geological sources for myths about Hell.