6.2 Negative Near-Death Experience

Are there people who have experienced a negative near-death experience, close to the traditional image of hell?

Yes. Although positive accounts are by far the most common, there are disturbing testimonies of so-called “negative” NDEs, involving feelings of anguish, isolation, or even damnation. The book Life After Death – Why We Should Believe briefly addresses this topic, citing several studies (Greyson, Bush, Moody).

The authors (Chambon and Riffard) point out that:

• These experiences are very rare (1–5% of cases depending on sources).
• They are less often shared because they are shameful, traumatic, or poorly understood.
• They should not be interpreted as punishments, but rather as reflections of the psychological state at the moment of death (fear, resistance, confusion).
• Sometimes, these NDEs begin in darkness but evolve toward the light after a moment of letting go.

They may therefore be understood not as spiritual failures, but as initiatory stages—calls to inner transformation.

To better understand them, here are two representative testimonies: that of Nancy Evans Bush (the void) and that of Howard Storm (hell).

Nancy Evans Bush: the existential void #

In the 1960s, Nancy Evans Bush, a young Christian woman with no serious medical history, underwent a near-death experience under anesthesia. Unlike the luminous accounts, she experienced an absolute void: no identity, no God, no reference points. A cold, endless nothingness.

I was in the void. And I was… nothing. Forgotten, nonexistent.

She describes total annihilation—no fire, no demons, but a radical absence of everything. This experience haunted her for years. For more than 20 years, she told no one about it, fearing she would be seen as insane or isolated.

It was only much later, when she discovered the work of Raymond Moody and the IANDS (International Association for Near-Death Studies), that she realized she was not alone. She learned that others had also experienced “dark” NDEs, and she then decided to conduct her own research.

With the support of Dr. Bruce Greyson, she explored these minority accounts and became the voice of those who had never been heard: witnesses of negative NDEs.

Their profiles are often far from stereotypes:

• some are moral, religious, or compassionate individuals;
• others are very rational, attached to control, or going through an unconscious inner crisis.

What they seem to share is a form of inner disconnection: fear of letting go, mental rigidity, emotional emptiness.

These experiences may be understood as a form of purification or spiritual crisis:

• they confront the soul with its lack of love or meaning;
• they force the letting go of false certainties;
• they trigger a deep inner transformation.

In her book Dancing Past the Dark, she identifies three types of negative NDEs:

• the inverse: the light becomes threatening;
• the void: total nothingness;
• hell: visions of fire, screams, dark entities.

She insists: these experiences are never final. They are passages, not condemnations.

📘 Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences, Nancy Evans Bush, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2012 (rev. ed. 2020)
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaiAKaV7w4

Howard Storm: from hell to light #

Howard Storm was a respected university professor, convinced that consciousness was merely a product of the brain and that death marked the absolute end of existence.

The idea of any kind of life after death never even crossed my mind, because I didn’t believe in such things. I was convinced that nothing existed after death. Only naïve people believed in that sort of thing. I believed in neither God, nor heaven, nor hell, nor any of those fairy tales.

But in 1985, during a trip to Paris, he suffered a severe intestinal perforation. While awaiting emergency surgery, he lost consciousness and underwent a profoundly disturbing near-death experience.

He found himself outside his body, guided by entities through a dark corridor. These beings quickly became hostile and violent. He experienced a scene of hell: solitude, humiliation, psychological suffering. Deep within himself, a voice urged him to pray—again and again. He tried to recall childhood memories from Sunday school or fragments of prayers he had learned, or anything even remotely similar, such as “God Bless America.” This had an effect. The entities retreated.

Alone, on the edge of despair, he called out to Jesus for help:

Immediately, a gentle, loving light burst forth and pulled him out of the darkness. He was welcomed by a presence of peace and love, which he identified as Jesus. This experience of love completely transformed him.

He asked many questions and received clear answers. Jesus gave him guidance and wisdom:

When he begged to remain in this light, God replied:

Upon returning to life, he was radically transformed: he left academia, became a Christian, and then a pastor. He devoted his life to sharing this message: love is the purpose of existence, and even at the depths of hell, one can still call out to the light.

📘 My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life, Howard Storm, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2000
🎥 https://youtu.be/8TFLL8_Hxts

Conclusion #

What if dark experiences were not endings, but beginnings? Calls to inner transformation, to a rebirth of the soul?