black as hell

((as) black as hell (as jet, as my или your hat, as night, as midnight, as pitch, print или the grave, австрал. as a burnt log, as the inside of a cow или dog))

совершенно темно, непроглядная тьма, тьма кромешная; ≈ хоть глаз выколи; см. тж. black as a crow, black as hades и dark as midnight

By this time the storm had about reached us; the gusts of wind were glaring the torches and making the shadows swash about, the first heavy drops of rain were falling, the world abroad was black as pitch, the lightning began to wink fitfully. (M. Twain, ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court’, ch. 7) — Тем временем гроза подошла совсем близко: порывы ветра раздували пламя факелов и раскачивали тени, упали первые крупные капли дождя, кругом стояла непроглядная тьма, иногда вспыхивала молния.

...against the grey neutral sky the watchtower looked as black as print. (Gr. Greene, ‘The Quiet American’, part II, ch. 7) — ...на сером, однотонном небе резко чернела сторожевая вышка.