It was a quiet and unassuming evening

Why do mystery and horror stories so often begin "It was a dark and stormy night?" We've all experienced a dark, stormy night, what is so mysterious about it? I know I tend to be home during those nights, only going out of the house if I have to. I don't want to be out in the rain. I imagine the same is true for most people. So why is this when all of the villains are out doing their work? Aren't they people, too? Don't you think they'd want to stay in on those nights?

For a storybook villain crime is their job, much like your job is your job. They don't want to go in to work if it means getting drenched on the way to the car. If they are like me and it is that dark and stormy, enough to mention at the start of a book, then they especially don't want to drive, I don't seem to see as well at night when it is raining. I think the villains would want to stay in on the dark and stormy nights. Perhaps if the start of the story when that business is going on is when the villains are planning their heist, or their caper, then I'll go along with it. There wouldn't be a better time to plan than on a dark and stormy night.

Some of you might be thinking that the stories don't always involve rational villains, so maybe that's why they are out on the dark and stormy nights. I'll give you that. It is not beyond reality to believe that there are irrational villains, and that these would be the ones cavorting on the dark and stormy nights. That could be a very real possibility. Perhaps these are the ones the stories are often involving. I still think there is an over representation of dark and stormy nights in horror and mystery stories.

If I was telling the story, I'd have it be a calm and unassuming evening, or perhaps even an afternoon, when the villain strikes. Especially after all of the priming that the other stories have done on us so that we automatically expect the worst when it is dark and stormy. My villain would certainly strike in the open, using the fact that people are inattentive in regular situations to their advantage. That's all I have regarding this topic at the moment. I was just thinking about it recently, how the dark and stormy line is so cliche in mystery and horror stories. I suppose I am done thinking about it now.