Quote from Turok:
Luke Chapter 16, verses 19-28. For brevity sake I will skip down to the relevent verses, but Jesus is speaking here as verse one starts with "And he {jesus} said also unto his disciples..."
19: There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21: And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22: And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24: And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame .
25: But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented .
26: And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence .
27: Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment .
So Jesus himself is speaking here. He is not in parable mode -- he generally indicated when he was in such mode and he additionally here uses the proper names of major Biblical characters. If you research Jesus' parables, I believe you will find that he never used proper names within.
According to Jesus Christ, hell is clearly a place tormented by flame. Also it's clear that once you check in you can't check out. (that is not to say that you can't die there).
