A Dark and Stormy Night

Category: Cool-Stuff

I was just thinking back to the wonderful 'Bad Literature' parody that Saturday Night Live created years ago. Is there something like that in the online world?

Bad is Good

But of course! The Internet is filled with bad literature, bad writers, and websites where they are celebrated. The most famous site of that genre that comes to mind is the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

For over twenty years, San Jose State University's English Department has sponsored this whimsical literary competition that challenges writers to compose the worst possible opening sentence for a novel. The inspiration for the contest was Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" which began with these often-plagiarized words:

"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."

The Envelope Please...

Although his entry was not selected as the winner, Ken Aclin of Shreveport, LA did receive the "Grand Panjandrum's Special Award" for this entry:

India, which hangs like a wet washcloth from the towel rack of Asia, presented itself to Tex as he landed in Delhi (or was it Bombay?), as if it mattered because Tex finally had an idea to make his mark and fortune and that idea was a chain of steak houses to serve the millions and he wondered, as he deplaned down the steep, shiny, steel steps, why no one had thought of it before.

You can find the winner, and a bunch of other humorous entries deemed worthy of special mention, here.

 
Ask Your Computer or Internet Question

 
  (Enter your question in the box above.)

It's Guaranteed to Make You Smarter...

AskBob Updates: Boost your Internet IQ & solve computer problems.
Get your FREE Subscription!


Email:

Check out other articles in this category:



Link to this article from your site or blog. Just copy and paste from this box:

This article was posted by on 1 Nov 2005


For Fun: Buy Bob a Snickers.

Prev Article:
Is Your Printer Spying on You?

The Top Twenty
Next Article:
Worst of the Web

Most recent comments on "A Dark and Stormy Night"

Posted by:

Connie
08 May 2007

The link in this article is not working.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Fixed now... Thanks for the heads up!


Post your Comments, Questions or Suggestions

*     *     (* = Required field)

    (Your email address will not be published)
(you may use HTML tags for style)

YES... spelling, punctuation, grammar and proper use of UPPER/lower case are important! Comments of a political nature are discouraged. Please limit your remarks to 3-4 paragraphs. If you want to see your comment posted, pay attention to these items.

All comments are reviewed, and may be edited or removed at the discretion of the moderator.

NOTE: Please, post comments on this article ONLY.
If you want to ask a question click here.


Free Tech Support -- Ask Bob Rankin
Subscribe to AskBobRankin Updates: Free Newsletter

Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy     RSS/XML


Article information: AskBobRankin -- A Dark and Stormy Night (Posted: 1 Nov 2005)
Source: https://askbobrankin.com/a_dark_and_stormy_night.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved