Welcome to Hell... In Norway

Hell is a quaint little village in Norway that’s the resting place of 1,600 souls. There are red-roofed houses, a post office, a grocery store, even a church. It literally freezes over during the winter, which is yet another example of why its pun-friendly name draws tourists throughout the year. Weirdly enough, hell means “luck“ in Norwegian, but the locals play up their association with the netherworld. When you pull into the train station, there’s a sign that reads HELL GODS -- EXPEDITION, and the town’s most famous native, Mona Grudt, who won the 1990 Miss Universe beauty pageant, proudly called herself “the beauty queen from Hell.“ Then there’s the annual Blues in Hell Festival, which was founded by Kjell Inge Brovoll, better known as “Hell Boss.“ This year, the festival brought a host of legendary American blues singers to the peaceful village, including Sugar Pie DeSanto, who is best described as a more unhinged and modern version of her late duet pa