For a SF take on hell, see "Surface Detail" by Ian M Banks. This takes place in his Culture [0] universe, and details how various societies maintain virtual hel

For a SF take on hell, see "Surface Detail" by Ian M Banks. This takes place in his Culture [0] universe, and details how various societies maintain virtual hells, some specifically to punish (now dead) citizens who previously uploaded their personalities into their society's virtual spaces. [spoiler] One of the characters in the book is an alien female who has hacked into her society's hell to expose its horrors to doubters in 'the Real'. She becomes trapped and (long story short) becomes an angel of death whose special gift / eternal punishment is to be able to release from hell one trapped soul per day. Unfortunately, every time she does this, she takes some of their pain upon herself. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture_(series)