What is hell like:

No one really knows what hell will be like. Many imagine fire and brimstone. However, these people are confusing an analogy with reality. The use of fire in describing hell comes from a valley called Gehenna, or ga ben Hinnom, “the valley of the son of Hinnom.”

This valley exists outside Jerusalem and was used by the ancient Israelites to dispose of their garbage. The valley was always on fire and the fire consumed the trash. When Christ refers to hell as “Gehenna” he is referring to hell, not necessarily as a place of fire, but as a place of trash. Only, in hell, the “trash” is not annihilated by the fire, the fire is eternal. That is, the trash will exist forever.

Never is hell referred to as a place of torture. Hell is referred to as a place of torment:

Who among you fears the LORD
and obeys the word of his servant?
Let him who walks in the dark,
who has no light,
trust in the name of the LORD
and rely on his God.But now, all you who light fires
and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
You will lie down in torment.

Isaiah 50:10-11

And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.

Revelation 14:11

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 20:10

Two things torment the inhabitants of hell:

1. Those in hell are tormented by their decision to go to hell, they will never experience heaven.
2. There is no pleasure in hell, nothing to make hell comfortable or acceptable. The joys found in life are perfected in heaven and absent in hell. Certain qualities we call vices, (such as: lust, greed, pride) will not be present in hell. These vices are only the corrupted version of something holy (love, desire, confidence). Even vices are present in their purified form in heaven and absent in hell. In other words, there is absolutely nothing good, pleasurable, or even entertaining in hell.