History YMMV / ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents

* TethercatPrinciple

** For some reason, this troper laughed for about ten minutes when Mr. Poe shouted "Come back here, [[{{Understatement}} you unpleasant person]]!" at a fleeing Count Olaf in book four or so.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Count Olaf's marriage ploy just to get Violet's money? Or does he actually hold a long-standing, near-incestuous, [[{{Squick}} pedophilic]] (well, technically, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia ephebophilic]]) lust for her? (Of course, in FanFic, [[BrotherSisterIncest everyone is incestuous]]).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: You think ''Literature/HarryPotter'' had a lot of death and misery? Psh! It also suggests that Olaf might be a bit of a paedophile.

* PeripheryDemographic: Like ''HarryPotter,'' it's one of those books you'll often see teens and adults picking up for themselves, possibly not allowing their own children to read them until they are mature enough that it won't give them nightmares.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: You think HarryPotter had a lot of death and misery? Psh! It also suggests that Olaf might be a bit of a paedophile. Additionally, it has the world's most downer soundtrack.

* HoistByHisOwnPretard: The AdultsAreUseless mentality of pretty much everyone the kids meet probably made most of them TooDumbToLive when they refuse to believe the building they're in is on fire. YMMV on whether the (potentially lethal) negligence displayed by characters who were otherwise good people made this LaserGuidedKarma.

* HoistedByHisOwnPretard: TheAdultsAreUseless mentality of pretty much everyone the kids meet probably made most of them TooDumbToLive when they refuse to believe the building they're in is on fire. YMMV on whether the (potentially lethal) negligence displayed by characters who were otherwise good people made this LaserGuidedKarma.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The AdultsAreUseless mentality of pretty much all the secondary characters probably made most of them ToDumbToLive in the 12th book, refusing to believe the building they were in was on fire. YMMV on whether the potentially lethal negligence displayed by characters who were otherwise good people made this deserved.

* VillainousCrush: If the NoYay subtext is canon, Count Olaf for Violet.

** For some reason, this troper laughed for about ten minutes when Mr. Poe shouted "Come back here, [[Understatement you unpleasant person]]!" at a fleeing Count Olaf in book four or so.

** For some reason, this troper laughed for about ten minutes when Mr. Poe shouted "Come back here, [[PuttingItMildly you unpleasant person]]!" at a fleeing Count Olaf in book four or so.

** Even worse in the film, where he isn't intimidating or villainous for a second, and acts more like the Grinch.
*** That's cause Olaf is ''acting''. [[LargeHam Poorly]]. It's when he drops the mask that his real personality emerges. I don't see how personally murdering two people in cold blood isn't villainous, or threatening to [[spoiler:kill Sunny.]]

** For some reason, this troper laughed for about ten minutes when Mr. Poe shouted "Come back here, [[{{Understatement}} you unpleasant person]]!" at a fleeing Count Olaf in book four or so.

* RomanticPlotTumor: Not entirely. But the romance subplots near the end of the series, with characters who only appeared in a single book each, felt rather tacked-on and rather quick. Then again, the characters were ''very'' busy.

* YourMileageMayVary: TheFilmOfTheBook and the open-ended conclusion to the series created a lot of polarization within the fanbase, and the whole Series has gotten its share of vehemently hateful reviews.

* FridgeHorror: Even though you know that a lot of very unpleasant things happen in the lives of the Baudelaire, the author narrates those events with a good touch of humour -- that it tends to lessen the impact of the feeling of true hopelessness and distress that the Baudelaires must consistently endure.