A Kentucky professor named Howard Storm used to live a pretty typical academic life. As the teacher and chairman of the art department at Northern Kentucky University, he had made a name for himself in higher education. He was a self-proclaimed atheist, a successful artist, and a respected educator. However, a sudden medical emergency during a trip to Paris flipped his entire world upside down, and according to Storm, it led him straight to hell.
Howard Storm’s life-changing experience started with a sharp, sudden pain that hit him like a bullet. “It was like, right there, bang, the most acute pain I’d ever experienced in my life,” he recalled in the documentary The Case for Heaven by Lee Strobel.
The Kentucky professor was rushed to the hospital, and at one point, he believed he died. But instead of the lights going out, Storm claims he found himself somewhere far worse than anything he had ever imagined, per The Express.
Forget the fire and brimstone. Storm says hell wasn’t full of demons with pitchforks or endless flames. Instead, it was a dark, hopeless place filled with overwhelming despair. “Defeated, depressed, and in despair” is how he described it. A bleak landscape of emotional and spiritual torture rather than physical agony.
Kentucky Professor Details Trip To Hell In Near-Death Experience
The people he encountered were not the damned souls you’d expect from Sunday school stories, but they were hostile, cruel, and ultimately terrifying. Storm has said in previous interviews that he was emotionally and spiritually attacked, mocked, and tormented by these beings.
“They took delight in my misery,” he shared. “There was no love, no hope, only cruelty.”
But just when it seemed like all hope was lost, Storm says something miraculous happened. He remembered a prayer from his childhood and called out to God. That’s when, according to him, the entire tone of the experience changed. A warm light broke through the darkness, and he was pulled into a place of peace and love. It was that moment, he says, that turned him from a hardened atheist into a devout Christian.
After recovering from his illness and returning to the U.S., Storm didn’t just quietly return to his old life. He left behind his career in academia, walked away from the university, and became a minister. He now leads a small church and devotes his life to sharing his story and helping others find faith.
His journey has sparked conversations online and among religious circles. Some call him a modern-day Jonah, others question whether the experience was a vivid hallucination, a symptom of brain trauma, or a true spiritual awakening. But no matter where you fall on the belief spectrum, it’s hard to ignore how deeply this event changed him.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Storm has admitted. “But once you’ve been there, you’ll never be the same.”
Whether you believe he actually visited hell or not, there’s no denying Howard Storm’s story is chilling, thought-provoking, and unforgettable. One moment he was a Kentucky man visiting Paris as a confident atheist. The next, he was facing what he believed was eternal torment. Now, he’s using that story to try and save others from the same fate.
Nina Franklin 
Casey James 
