Geographic locations in A Series of Unfortunate Events

In the children's book series "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket, there are various fictional geographical locations where events take place.

The Hinterlands

ASUE place
name = The Hinterlands


bgcolor = Green
first = "The Hostile Hospital"
later = "The Carnivorous Carnival"
location =
size = wwr
possession =
type = desert

The Hinterlands are a fictional area of wasteland/desert appearing in "The Hostile Hospital" and "The Carnivorous Carnival". They are famous for their magnificent blue sunsets. The Baudelaires mentioned that they had always wanted to see the Hinterlands and were promised by their parents that they would visit one day. The Hinterlands are also home to the Caligari Carnival, which is the only attraction in the area. The Caligari Carnival is at the end of the Rarely Ridden Road.

Mortmain Mountains

ASUE place
name = Mortmain Mountains


bgcolor = lightblue
first = "The Carnivorous Carnival"
later =
location =
size =
possession = Inhabited by Lions and Snow Gnats
type = mountain rangeThe Mortmain Mountains is a fictional mountain range in "The Carnivorous Carnival ". It is first mentioned by Jerome Squalor in "The Ersatz Elevator" as Mount Fraught, the largest mountain in the range.

This was the area of the Valley of the Four Drafts that the Snow Scouts gather in, and also the location of the penultimate safe place for VFD members, the only other being the Hotel Denouement. When The Man With a Beard but No Hair and the Woman With Hair but No Beard started a fire at the penultimate safe place for the members of VFD, the sugar bowl was tossed out a window down the Stricken Stream, which arises on Mount Fraught and flows to the sea.

The mountain range is home to Snow Gnats and V.F.D. Lions.

The range is very difficult to climb, since it consists of sheer drops and plateaux arranged in a staircase. The range is very cold during winter and false spring, with blizzards and ice further hindering climbing. The Snow Scouts are headed by Bruce and they include many important people including formerly Quigley Quagmire, Carmelita Spats, and possibly the children of C.M. Kornbluth and the Duchess of Winnipeg.

"(See also List of VFDs.)"

Gorgonian Grotto

ASUE place
name = Gorgonian Grotto


bgcolor = aqua
first = "The Grim Grotto"
later =
location = End of Stricken Stream, below Anwhistle Aquatics
size =
possession = Gregor Anwhistle
type = Cave

The Gorgonian Grotto is a fictional cave shaped like a cone featured in "The Grim Grotto". The grotto is located below Anwhistle Aquatics, to which it is linked by vertical tunnels.

The name "Gorgonian" is an apparent reference to gorgons, deadly creatures of Greek mythology. This refers to the presence of the deadly Medusoid Mycelium in the grotto. Medusa was a Gorgon.

The Baudelaire children, accompanied by Fiona, visit the grotto because they believe that the sugar bowl may have been carried into it via its underwater entrance, after having been thrown into the Stricken Stream. They do not find the sugar bowl, however they do find several items washed up on a beach in the grotto which later become useful. While visiting the grotto, Sunny Baudelaire becomes infected by the Medusoid Mycelium.

Briny Beach

ASUE place
name = Briny Beach


bgcolor = tan
first = "The Bad Beginning"
later = "The Grim Grotto"
location = In or Near Main City
size =
possession =
type = beach

Briny Beach is a fictional beach where "The Bad Beginning" begins.

In the first novel, "The Bad Beginning", Briny Beach is where the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, learn from Mr. Poe that their parents have died in a fire which destroyed their home. From then on, the series occasionally mentions the beach in referring to the orphans' ongoing misery and woe. In "The Grim Grotto" (the eleventh novel), the beach is where the Baudelaires meet Kit Snicket for the first time when she picks them up to take them to Hotel Denouement, leaving behind Mr. Poe, who had come to take the children to the police. This visit, the Baudelaires' second in the series, is alluded to in the "Author's Notes" section of the Rare Edition of "The Bad Beginning". These notes also allude to Violet returning to Briny Beach alone for a third time in the series. This however does not occur.

The beach's name is a literary allusion to Lewis Carroll's famous poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There"), which relates the tale of how two chaps (a walrus and a carpenter) eat a bed of talking oysters to cure their melancholy over the fact that the briny beach is so sandy and unclean (unfortunately, this feast only serves to increase their melancholy). A verse from the poem goes as follows:

::"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"::"The Walrus did beseech."::"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,"::"Along the briny beach:"::"We cannot do with more than four,"::"To give a hand to each."

According to the walrus in the poem, the briny beach has boiling water ("The time has come to talk of many things: of ... why the sea is boiling hot..."), although it seems unlikely to be true of Briny Beach.

Brine itself is water heavily saturated in salt, such as that found in the sea, and is commonly used in pickling.

olaf land

ASUE place
name = The Island or Olaf Land "(true name unknown)"


bgcolor = magenta
first = "The End"
later =
location = Ocean
size =
possession = Ishmael, Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaire, the Baudelaire orphans
type = island
nickname = Olaf-Land (according to Count Olaf, who claims he discovered it, when there were already people living there)The Island on which most of "The End" takes place is sometimes called "Olaf Land" because it was the only name given to it (although only used by Count Olaf) as the correct name is unknown.

All things are supposed to return to its shores, including Esmé's fire dress from the Slippery Slope. The true name of the island is unknown. Count Olaf informally names it "Olaf Land" after seeing it for the first time, and believing that the inhabitants are primitive, thinking they will accept him as king. None of the island's other inhabitants refer to the island as "Olaf Land", and Olaf is actually banished to the coastal shelf by Friday when he attempts to establish himself as king. Ishmael is the island's facilitator but he keeps the secret of VFD from the other islanders. When Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire were the leaders of the island, they attempted to create a utopian society of it. It is the final resting place of Kit Snicket and Count Olaf.

It is also mentioned in that the island used to have a rule that forbade people from removing its fruit. This may also be a Biblical reference to Adam and Eve, who appear in the Old Testament's first book.

It is apparent that Lemony Snicket visited this island on a boat, possibly the Prospero, to gather information about the Baudelaire orphans, as the letter to his editor at the back of The Penultimate Peril is a napkin marked with a picture of a boat.

Coastal shelf

The coastal shelf is a landform onto which the Baudelaires and Count Olaf are deposited after they have survived a violent storm. The shelf is littered with junk. The Baudelaires are discovered by a six or seven year-old girl named Friday, who takes them to a colony of castaways on a nearby island, leaving Olaf because she thinks he's rude.

After every storm, the islanders search the shelf for wreckage that might be useful. Such a wide variety of things can be found it is said that everything eventually ends up on the island's shores.

Lake Lachrymose

ASUE place
name = Lake Lachrymose


bgcolor = blue
first = "The Wide Window"
later =
location =
size = Large enough to have a hurricane
possession = Possibly local government, inhabited by Lachrymose Leeches
type = Lake

Lake Lachrymose is a very large lake, affected as it is by Hurricane Herman (a hurricane in the The Wide Window). One of the notable points of the lake is the leeches that inhabit its waters. If anyone goes into Lake Lachrymose within an hour after eating, the Lachrymose Leeches will smell the food and devour them. This is how Ike and possibly Josephine Anwhistle meet their end. There are various features around the lake, including Curdled Cave (which is for sale), a cliff which formerly held Josephine Anwhistle's house, beaches, and the Town of Lake Lachrymose.

The resort town is bustling during good weather, but in the bad weather, things are dead. The Anxious Clown restaurant is of particular note, which supposedly has a V.F.D. member disguised as a waiter saying, "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion." The food is horrible, some meals include the Extra Fun Family Appetizer (a bunch of things served up together and fried with a sauce), the Surprising Chicken Salad, and Cheer-up Cheeseburgers. Known customers include Mr. Poe and his sister, Eleanora (in The Unauthorized Autobiography), the Baudelaire orphans, Count Olaf (under the disguise of Captain Sham), Jacques Snicket (possibly), and Lemony Snicket, when he had to collect a secret message.

Another important place is Damocles Dock, where the Fickle Ferry docks. Captain Sham's Sailboat Rentals is located here. Other places are the Lavender Lighthouse, marking Curdled Cave's location, a clothing store called, Look! It Fits!, the Rancorous Rocks, and the Wicked Whirlpool, the last 3 of which are simply things mentioned, and don't play any importance to the story.

It is known that Captain Widdershins patrolled Lake Lachrymose in his submarine, the Queequeg.

Notably, the word "lachrymose" means "tearful", "piteous", or "mournful". It stems from the Latin word "Lacrimosa". This is significant on at least two levels – firstly, it fits with the series' theme of misery perfectly, and secondly (perhaps, more importantly), Lacrimosa is a movement of Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, famously known as the last piece of music he ever penned. Mozart's music is notably employed by the V.F.D. as a form of code.

It is unknown whether Lake Lachrymose has any relation to lachrymology.

Curdled Cave

Curdled Cave is where Aunt Josephine was hiding when Count Olaf, disguised as Captain Sham, forced her to hand over the Baudelaires to him. The Baudelaires go to rescue her, the only way to get her out of Curdled Cave was when Klaus told her that the cave was for sale. As she was afraid of realtors, she reluctantly agreed to go. It is believed that this could have once been a "safe place" as Kit reveals in The Penultimate Peril that there was a cave as a safe place until vicious realtors claimed it as their own. This could also be the cause of Aunt Josephine's fear of realtors.