Is hell a real place?

Yes. Hell is a real place where those who die in their sins go to await final judgment. The people who are kept there suffer from fire, smoke, burning sulfur, burning wind, burning coals, unquenchable thirst (Psalm 11.6; 140.10; Proverbs 25.22; Matthew 25.41; Luke 16.24; Romans 12.20). This is a frighteningly unimaginable eternal fate, but the Bible is very strong in its description of this holding place for the wicked.

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).

Some claim that the Hebrew word Sheol only refers to the grave and that it is not a reference to a place where the wicked are punished while they wait to be judged. That is not biblical because the Bible states there is a place where the wicked remain until final judgment (Luke 16.19-31; Revelation 20.13-14). Some of the angels who committed a serious sin after their initial rebellion were confined in the abyss, which is the lower section of hell (2 Peter 2.4; Jude 6).