Portal to Hell

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Part of a series on Tumblr. [View Related Entries]

About

Portal to Hell is a multi-pane comic series illustrating the science fiction scenario of people disappearing into the ground and ending up in hell via teleportation. The illustrated portions of the comics, which are usually attached as a follow up pane to an animated GIF or video clip of a person disappearing into the ground, show Satan sitting on a throne of skulls and responding to the constant leakage of mortals into his underworld.

Origin

On June 20th, 2012, Redditor oenoneshore posted a short GIF from a video clip to /r/Funny^[13] depicting herself attempting to jump on a swing but slipping and falling into a puddle. The next day, one of the commenters^[14] requested the GIF to be photoshopped so it would appear as if she was consumed by the puddle. The enhanced GIF was swiftly reposted to Reddit and Tumblr blogs, including The Best Fun Site^[10] where the post gained more than 61,000 notes in a matter of hours.

As it was reblogged on June 21st, other Tumblr users began adding their own commentary including the now-deactivated account demonseallovesyou^[11], who called the puddle “the gateway to Satan’s lair" (shown below).

On November 10th, 2012, Tumblr user pumpkinlore^[12] reblogged the photo and commentary, adding that she pictured Satan relaxing on a throne of skulls, becoming bewildered as he witnesses the girl falling through the air. Later that day, hrmphfft^[1] saw pumpkinlore’s comment and reblogged it with a three-panel comic (shown below) interpreting her description. As of March 2013, the GIF post, with and without the comic, has accrued more than 804,000 notes. In addition, hrmphfft’s original comics were compiled into an Imgur gallery^[16] in December 2012, accruing more than 250,000 views in three months.

Spread

On January 20th, 2013, Tumblr user Redemptiondot^[2] made a similar comic on a reblogged post containing a GIF of a man falling through a trap door in a store. The two panels depict the male falling into the same hell as from hrmphfft’s comic with the first girl still lying on the floor (shown below). The trap door GIF and follow-up comic were later added to the original swing GIF post by tavish-degroot.^[15]

On January 23rd, Tumblr user p5stuck^[3] added a response to both comics, using a GIF of a videogame skateboarder falling through the floor but ending up getting stuck at the wrists, followed by two panels showing the skater hanging from the ceiling while the other two victims watch (shown below). On January 24th, Tumblr user dave-stridlediddle^[4] compiled a separate photoset post of the three GIFs and comics, gaining more than 280,000 notes as of March 2013. This collection was later shared on Imgur^[16], where it gained more than 10,000 views within two months.

Also on January 24th, Tumblr user Sirpangur^[5] added another panel following a GIF of a horse hijacking a car that sinks into the ground and crashes on Satan and his throne (shown below, left column). On February 4th and February 6th, Tumblr user Yubishines added comics depicting Hawkeye^[6] and Thor^[7] from the The Avengers falling on top ov everyone else (shown below, center and right columns).

Following an update to the webcomic Homestuck^[9] on March 10th, 2013, in which the character Sollux Captor is shown falling down some stairs (shown below, left), Tumblr user Catfishcafe^[8] made a new post in the style of the Portal To Hell series, removing all of the other Homestuck characters from the room. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 7100 notes.