WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

hell to pay
    n 1: dire consequences; "when the pig ran away there was hell to
         pay"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

40 Moby Thesaurus words for "hell to pay":
   bind, clutch, complication, crunch, embarrassing position,
   embarrassment, fine how-do-you-do, hobble, hot water,
   how-do-you-do, imbroglio, jam, mess, mix, morass, parlous straits,
   pass, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, pretty pass,
   pretty pickle, pretty predicament, quagmire, quicksand, scrape,
   slough, spot, squeeze, stew, sticky wicket, strait, straits, swamp,
   tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tricky spot, unholy mess