<< My question is this: Why is hell concieved as such an evil and horrible place? This doesn't make any logical sense. Wouldn't Satan make it as attractive as possible in order to try to attract people away from God? >>
Satan can try to make Hell as attractive as possible... he already does, with sin.
Sin is nothing than a twisting of what God has given us. If you think about it, nothing sinful is inherently evil - it's just twisted.
And that's what's horrible about it... it's not the real thing. Hell is a place devoid of even the twisted goodness that exists on this earth. It's a place devoid of any "good" whatsoever.
Not sure if this makes any sense to anyone. I'll come back after my stats lecture and we can throw stuff around a bit more.