To Hell or not to Hell?

After nearly puking up my last few years of meals upon listening to Brian McLaren talk about "hell", I started to wonder, what exactly is hell like? We all have an image in our minds (or at least I do) of perpetual burning and flames, etc. But what does the Bible say? My list is in no way exhaustive, so feel free to add in the comments below. There are some verses/passages that I recall, but couldn't find.

First off, let me say that hell indeed does exist as a place of punishment. Jesus spoke about it over. and over. and over. Furthermore, there would be no urgency to accept the forgiveness of Jesus unless there was also a consequence for not doing so.

"Fiery Furnace."- In Matthew 13, Jesus twice refers to hell as a "fiery furnace." Once, he says that the "weeds" ("sons of the evil one") will be thrown into this furnace, just as real weeds are. Then he says that the angels will separate the evil from the righteous and throw the evil into a "fiery furnace." I'm not sure how literally this image should be taken, but I am sure that it speaks of real punishment, and that it is not pleasant.
"Lake of Fire." At the end of Revelation, the "beast", the "false prophet", the devil, "Death and Hades", and anyone not written in the book of life are all thrown into the Lake of Fire.
"Flame"- In the parable of Luke 16, the rich man in the "place of torment" says that he is "in anguish in this flame," referring to hell.
"Gehenna"- When the New Testament says "hell", it is normally this Greek word, gehenna. Traditionally, this is the valley outside of Jerusalem where much of the waste and refuse- possibly including dead bodies- were thrown.
"Outer Darkness/Weeping and gnashing of teeth."- Three times in Matthew, Jesus describes hell through parables and says that the evil will be cast into the "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth." Once again, this image differs from the ones above, but it is 1) for the evil and 2) not pleasant.

Will hell be a place of flames? The biblical images in my very non-exhaustive list are definitely "fiery." What may be unclear in the imagery is clear in Paul's explanation- "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed..." (2 Thess. 1:9-10). And, what the Psalmist says is true for all men- "For me it is good to be near God!" (Psalm 73:28) What is clear is that hell is eternal separation from God and punishment by God, and to be near God in relationship with Him is our greatest good! It is not my focus to scare or to be a downer, but to motivate my own all-too-often-jaded-heart.