It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Snoopy’s favorite opening line, “It was a dark and stormy night …”* starts the opening sentence of the novel Paul Clifford by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. The English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest since 1983. 2017 marked the 35th anniversary for this contest, which challenges entrants to compose opening sentences for the worst possible novel. Which of these annual winners would inspire the most interesting film?

After approving the script, you may discuss it here.

*“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” — Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)