A hellscape is a harsh environment, an unpleasant place, or a scene thought to resemble hell.[1] A depiction of hell in a work of art is called a hellscape.[2]
The earliest known use of the term in print was in 1894.[2]
Writers have sometimes described wartime environments as hellscapes,[3] and after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cities were defined as such by its survivors.[4] Writers have also used hellscape to describe the scene of a natural disaster such as a drought, plague, flood, or wildfire.[5][6][7][8] Projections of the consequences of global warming have been described by journalists as hellscapes.[9][10][11]
The usage of recreational drugs such as heroin has been described by its users as creating hellscapes.[12][13]
In the tech press, journalists have defined Internet disinformation as a hellscape.[14] Some have speculated the replacing of human labor with intelligent robots could lead to a future hellscape,[15] as well as child sex dolls.[16]
Vox wrote that postmodern philosophers have predicted a post-truth hellscape.[17]
In October 2022, after purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk stated that it couldn't become "a free-for-all hellscape".[18]
In movies, depictions of hellscapes are common.[citation needed]
Apocalypse Now depicts earthly hellscapes, during war.[19] Other notable examples in cinema include Blade Runner 2049,[20] Alien,[21] Mad Max: Fury Road,[22] as well as all of the Mad Max series.
Hieronymus Bosch's The Last Judgement depicts a religious hellscape.[23] Other examples are Jan van Eyck's Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Dull Gret.[24]
Dante Alighieri's Inferno is one of the best-known examples of a hellscape. The Great Gatsby depicts the "Valley of the Ashes" as a hellscape.[25]
A number of video games depict hellscapes,[26][27] including Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.[28]
