Monday Mysteries – The Gates of Hell

By Regina Fox

A drainage tunnel runs beneath High Street that carries the stream in Glen Echo Park to the Olentangy River. The walls are peppered with strange graffiti drawings and the path winds in a way that it creates complete darkness in the middle, even during the day.

At the end of the tunnel are two tall, metal gates designed to trap large debris–the eponymous gates in the name, “The Gates of Hell.”

There are several locations around the world that people believe to be entrances to hell, all with different histories. The Gates of Hell in Columbus does not have a past of swallowing intruders and spitting them out into a fiery underworld, but that doesn’t stop people from talking about what that tunnel may be capable of….

The following is the author’s representation of how the Gates of Hell got its name.

He hopped off his skateboard at the entrance and stared down into its blackness. He pushed off the ground, determined to master the winding slopes and to debunk any rumors of the tunnel’s satanic associations.

Inside, the turns were sharp. He leaned side to side to ride the walls and noticed the daylight weakening quickly behind him. His wheels began picking up speed as he narrowly maneuvered another sharp turn.

The thick, musky darkness was closing in on him as he rolled faster and faster. He finally caught a glimpse of light obscured by lines of shadows; a gate.

The golden light shining between the bars began turning orange, then red. He heard thunderous laughing.

Without time to bail off his skateboard, the Gates of Hell had warmly welcomed another into its eternal, fiery clutches.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY