Answer
The phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" originated from the writings of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a 19th-century British novelist. Bulwer-Lytton used the phrase in his 1830 novel Paul Clifford, and it has since become a cliché in English literature. The phrase is often used to describe a gloomy or depressing setting, and it has been parodied in many works of fiction and film.