I'm pretty sure that before the gate is supposed to be limbo, but after that...doesn't seem any more concrete, does it? 
I don't think he sends you to another realm, per se. Maybe you just get to chill in his chambers past the river Styx?
See, that's kind of what I always thought too--that dead King's Quest characters go to the Realm of the Dead and just kind of live out the rest of eternity in ghoulish misery. But it doesn't seem logical to me that they would have their hearing with Samhain and not face some kind of judgement--a retribution of sorts--and then move on. But hey, when you hold up the mirror, it does say aomething about the "surrounding spirits" turning away. Maybe you're right, Kelsey--all the cool ghosts get to hang with the Lord of the Dead!
If they are so chained by earthly troubles, what would allow them to enter the Underworld? Allaria still has her ticket when she meets Alex. Maybe because of that remaining connection to the Land of the Living they aren't allowed in.
I think that's exactly what it is. We aren't shown what happens when you first enter the Realm of the Dead (except that you get a quippy one-liner to take with you), so perhaps they get a ticket the moment they enter it? Allaria says that she and Caliphan
can't leave because they are chained by their earthly sorrows. They have to go
somewhere when they die--and if my theory is correct, then the Realm of the Dead is the place they go until they can move on and be judged.
The concept of the dead being chained to the world of the living is rather popular. I just finished playing Dragon Quest IX on the DS, which also heavily relies on that concept. Part of the game is based on meeting with the dead and fulfilling their wishes so that they can be free to leave. In that game, you're basically an angel (though called a "Celestrian" - no imagination! 
) who at times must meet with the dead to send them off. Sometimes they need a simple explanation, other times they need something done to relieve their stress, which keeps them tied to the world of the living.
If you believe any of it, this also links right to the idea of cleansing a place to rid it of spirits--"smudging," as the Native Americans call it. I, for one, totally believe in ghosts and spirits, angels and demons, so it's not so far-fetched to me that a spirit might need help moving onto whatever lies beyond. If they're still stuck here, then they obviously ARE still connected to Earth somehow, so they can't become part of the Great Beyond if they're still bound by human worries. They
might need an explanation or "something done to relieve their stress" in order to get them to move on. So to me, the Realm of the Dead represents that placeholder until they can.
Most enlightening, everyone. Thanks for the answers!
