A Short Stay in Hell

104 pages

English language

Published Jan. 4, 2012 by Strange Violin Editions.

ISBN:
978-0-9837484-4-1
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An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.

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A short read of hell

Don't underestimate the amount of pages and words it takes to fuck up your imagination. This story did a very good job of triggering my fear of endlessness and dullness.

Felt Like an SCP Story

This felt a lot like an SCP story, I think it was effective to write this as a novella. I liked the parts about sameness and losing hope, although I don't know if I needed the magnitude of eternity hammered in so much.

I was surprised about how straightforward the author was about Mormon cosmology/deification, I thought they generally played that closer to the vest.

I don't understand why no

Review of 'A Short Stay in Hell' on 'Goodreads'

Sometimes I'll look at my TBR list and lament the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day and that I have but one life to live; I simply will not be able to read every book out there no matter how hard I try. But now that I've come across this story where a character not only has the chance to do that, but the outright specific task to read every possible book that could be written, it sounds like a nightmare.

This is one of the most creative books I've ever read, and the setting and worldbuilding has been bouncing around my head ever since I finished it. I find myself trying to imagine what I would do in this scenario and it's pretty daunting not to get swallowed up in the numbers and physical dimensions of the library this story takes place in. For as …

Review of 'A short stay in hell' on 'Goodreads'

Absolutely engrossing, fun and haunting all that same time. A great take on what the afterlife may be. If only Zorastrism wasn't used because it has a funny name. Otherwise, brilliant.

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