Actually I think Bulwer-Lytton's opening paragraph, which gave rise to this one is a pretty good one to encourage you to want to read on:

"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."