What do you think?
Dark and Stormy Night (Bulwer-Lytton Contest)
Dark and Stormy Rides Again: The Best (?) from the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, named in honor of the Victorian literary has-been Edward Bulwer-Lytton, is the world-famous competition that seeks to find the most atrocious opening senticento a hypothetical lousy novel. This collection of choice entries proves that there are still committed writers out there plumbing their inner souls for truly bad writing. Radio giveaways.
122 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2026
The Bulwer- Lytton Fiction contest was an annual humor contest which operated from 1982 through 2025, this annual contest had been administered by the English department at San Jose State University in California.
Scott Ric, who had been a professor who used to teach at San Jose State University had originally created this annual contest back in 1982, Scott Rice had named this contest after the 19th century British author, Edward Bulwer- Lytton. Edward Bulwer Lytton was the author of the 1830 novel entitled "Paul Clifford," which writers throughout the world have been noting for the awkward wording of the opening sentence for nearly 2 centuries.
The purpose of the annual Bulwer- Lytton Fiction contest was to allow people throughout the world to enter submissions for sentences that they compose which are intended to be the most awkwardly worded sentences which could potentially have been the opening sentence to a work of fiction.
"Dark and Stormy Night Rides Again" is the fifth book in the series of six (6) books which Scott Rice had compiled between 1984 and 2007 which list the intentionally awkwardly worded sentences that people had submitted to the annual Bulwer- Lytton Fiction contest.
If you are looking to read something that will make you laugh, all of the six (6) books that Scott Rice had compiled in this series will make you laugh.
Scott Ric, who had been a professor who used to teach at San Jose State University had originally created this annual contest back in 1982, Scott Rice had named this contest after the 19th century British author, Edward Bulwer- Lytton. Edward Bulwer Lytton was the author of the 1830 novel entitled "Paul Clifford," which writers throughout the world have been noting for the awkward wording of the opening sentence for nearly 2 centuries.
The purpose of the annual Bulwer- Lytton Fiction contest was to allow people throughout the world to enter submissions for sentences that they compose which are intended to be the most awkwardly worded sentences which could potentially have been the opening sentence to a work of fiction.
"Dark and Stormy Night Rides Again" is the fifth book in the series of six (6) books which Scott Rice had compiled between 1984 and 2007 which list the intentionally awkwardly worded sentences that people had submitted to the annual Bulwer- Lytton Fiction contest.
If you are looking to read something that will make you laugh, all of the six (6) books that Scott Rice had compiled in this series will make you laugh.
August 5, 2023
A handful of good ones, but in general not up to their previous standard.
March 11, 2016
(groan) It will be a while before I am once again feeling tolerant of puns or tortured, purposely belabored language like what I was subjected to in this volume. About every five or six pages I was rewarded with a laugh-inducing sentence, making it all worth while, I suppose.
June 27, 2014
Why, yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I find terribly amusing. I've never attempted to enter the Bulwer-Lytton contest, but I love reading the results.
March 18, 2007
Bad writing can be sooo good – these books are hilarious.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews