History YMMV / ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents

** How much of Olaf's bumbling is an act? At first impression, he may come off as an idiot that lucked into being [[AdultsAreUseless surrounded by a society of even bigger idiots,]] but he does have genuine knowledge about things like manipulating mob psychology, marking secret locations, and is well-read enough to quote poetry as his FamousLastWords. Many fans believe he deliberately cultivated an anti-intellectual persona to stick it to the literature-loving side of the VFD schism.

* AcceptableTargets: Adults like Aunt Josephine [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes with crippling phobias]] that make it impossible for them to function, and who refuse to try to combat their fears so that they ''can'' function.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Count Olaf's marriage ploy just to get Violet's money? Or does he actually hold a long-standing, near-incestuous, [[{{Squick}} ephebophilic]] lust for her? (In FanFic, [[BrotherSisterIncest everyone is incestuous]].)

* CantUnHearIt: Just try reading the books without imagining Count Olaf sounding like Creator/JimCarrey. Did you succeed? Oh, it just means you're hearing Creator/NeilPatrickHarris instead.[[note]] [[TakeAThirdOption Unless]] you remain faithful to Creator/TimCurry from the audiobooks…[[/note]]

* GrowingTheBeard: The whole MindScrew started and was hinted from the third book onwards, but it's after The Austere Academy when things really [[ParanoiaFuel took off]]. That's because when he was writing the fifth book Handler had finally had his contract signed for 13 installments and could plan ahead the plot.

* HarsherInHindsight: In ''The Wide Window'' Lemony says Josephine's fear of realtors is irrational because nothing bad has ever come out of the industry, which is rather awkward after the 2007 housing bubble collapse. This is actually acknowledged in the Netflix series, as he still says the line but then looks embarrassed by it.

* InferredHolocaust: Considering the huge number of buildings that get torched in the series, it's to be expected. However, it's also deconstructed in the sense that when it's the Baudelaires' turn to start burning things, they admit that they have no idea how many people die as a result of their actions, and are deeply affected by it, most notably in the destruction of the [[spoiler: Hotel Denoument]], where even the author isn't sure of the death toll. The book even ''ends'' with one: [[spoiler: there's the potential for the islanders to spread their poisoning to the mainland]], though it's acknowledged that this is unlikely.

* LesYay: "Although sadly I believe it will be quite some time before two women can be allowed to marry and I will love you if you have a child, and I will love you if you have two children, or three children, or even more, although I personally think three is plenty, and I will love you if you never marry at all, and never have children, and spend your years wishing you had married me after all, and I must say that on late, cold nights I prefer this scenario out of all the scenarios I have mentioned.”
** For those who don't know, this is the full quote "I will love you if you marry someone else–your co-star, perhaps, or Y., or even O., or anyone Z. through A., even R.–although sadly I believe it will be quite some time before two women can be allowed to marry." This is from The Beatrice Letters and is from LS to BB (Lemony Snicket to Beatrice Baudelaire). "R" is also believed to be R, Duchess of Winnipeg, whose ring both Lemony and Bertrand used to propose to Beatrice.

** In ''The Miserable Mill'', he and Georgina Orwell hypnotize Klaus to kill Charles to get him and his siblings would get kicked out of Lucky Smells Lumbermill and be captured by Count Olaf. This is also where Georgina herself crossed it.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back in the day, these were some of the [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest]] and most cynical kids books you can find on shelves. The bar has been raised a ''lot'' by some things that came after the first book.

* TakeThatScrappy: Olaf does this to Poe in the movie while Violet does this in the series proper, politely declining to come with him after the clusterfuck that was the first 7 books.
** This is more satisfying in the series where Poe is a self-centred, as opposed to the film where he is still bumbling but more well-meaning than his book counterpart.

* BrokenBase: A sure-fire way to make people angry is to remind them of how [[AbortedArc many mysteries are set up only to be dropped like a hot potato with no resolution]].

** One of the villains says that he had a nice dream of [[EvilIsPetty sneezing and not covering his mouth]] covering everyone in germs. It's less funny after COVID with people intentionally coughing on grocery store food to try to infect people.

* EarWorm: “Welcome welcome welcome to the House of Freaks...”

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids:A story about a man who murders just about every character in the series trying to kill three orphans to get their inheritance. This includes characters being eaten alive, death by harpoon gun, and the untold unmentionables who didn't escape the hospital fire.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The title should have been a warning, as should the actual warning, but this series contains plenty of dark material, not to mention a vast array of references and allusions that children would not likely understand.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Olaf's death and last words]] carry a perhaps surprisingly emotional tone.

** For those who don't know, this is the full quote "I will love you if you marry someone else–your co-star, perhaps, or Y., or even O., or anyone Z. through A., even R.–although sadly I believe it will be quite some time before two women can be allowed to marry." This is from The Beatrice Letters and is from LS to BB (Lemony Snicket to Beatrice Baudelaire). "R" is also believed to the R Duchess of Winnipeg, whose ring Bertrand used to propose to Beatrice.

* ValuesDissonance: Yep, even though it's not that old, this trope exists here. There is a running joke about how one of Olaf's henchpeople looks like "neither a man, nor a woman", and about how creepy he/she/they is/are. With increasing awareness today about transgender people, and people with gender dysphoria, and people of non-binary gender, it is hard to view this as funny. (Note, however, that this has been pointed out to Daniel Handler, who has stressed that he is quite aware of the difference between "genderqueer" and "androgynous", and the Henchperson is meant to unambiguously be in the latter category. The [[Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents Netflix series adaptation]] confirmed this ''and'' made the Henchperson a sympathetic character to boot.)

* AcceptableTargets: Adults like Aunt Josephine [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes with crippling phobias]] that make it impossible for them to function.

* IdiotPlot: One of the reasons why the books have plots after the first few is because the Baudelaires are some of the few recurring characters that do not have the IdiotBall. TropesAreNotBad because it adds to the dark humor, and the feeling of bleakness in a world going out of its way to be cruel to these children.

* EarWorm: If you listen to the audiobooks, Tim Curry's rendition of "Volunteers Fighting Disease" song will never leave your head. NEVER.

** Characters like Esme Squalor almost serve as a double-dipping Acceptable Target, mocking both people who live in exceedingly, offensively lavish lifestyles and people who are only interested in jumping on the latest fad.

* ValuesDissonance: Yep, even though it's not that old, this trope exists here. There is a running joke about how one of Olaf's henchpeople looks like "neither a man, nor a woman", and about how creepy he/she/they is/are. With increasing awareness today about transgender people, and people with gender dysphoria, and people of non-binary gender, it is hard to view this as funny.

* HilariousInHindsight: Esme's dress that looks like a fire. A similar concept was used in ''Film/TheHungerGames''.

* CantUnHearIt: Just try reading the books without imagining Count Olaf sounding like Creator/JimCarrey. Did you succeed? Oh, it just means you're hearing Creator/NeilPatrickHarris instead.[[note]] [[TakeAThirdOption Unless]] you remain faithful to Creator/TimCurry from the audibooks…[[/note]]

* CantUnHearIt: Just try reading the books without imagining Count Olaf sounding like Creator/JimCarrey. Did you succeed? Oh, it just means you're hearing Creator/NeilPatrickHarris instead.

* IdiotPlot: One of the reasons why the books have plots after the first few is because the Bauderlaires are some of the few recurring characters that do not have the IdiotBall. TropesAreNotBad because it adds to the dark humor, and the feeling of bleakness in a world going out of its way to be cruel to these children.

* ParanoiaFuel: Beneath the surface of society is a violent feud going back decades between two factions of a child-stealing conspiracy, many members of which lead elaborate double lives as respectable members of the community while in secret they have few compunctions about arson or murder; your parents, teachers and especially librarians are probably in on it, and so are waiters and hotel managers, while taxi drivers are just waiting to whisk you away to a new life.

* WhatAnIdiot: On no less than '''four''' separate occasions in ''The Carnivorous Carnival'' it is shown pretty clearly that Count Olaf knows exactly who the Baudelaires are, and these kids, who have been so good at catching on to these sorts of things previously, miss it every time. To clarify:
** 1. After revealing their true identities to Olivia, Count Olaf comes bustling out of her tent the next day to exclaim "I've got what I wanted!" before ''pointing directly at the Baudelaires.''
** 2. On their way to the lion show, Olivia hands Violet the last ingredient needed for their escape vehicle and refuses to answer their questions, pretty clearly implying that she has betrayed them and wants them to escape while they can.
** 3. Olaf relentlessly trolls them after the lion show, menacingly pointing at Klaus and saying "I think you're lying to me..." after Klaus has insisted that there's nothing else useful in the tent. Of course, two seconds later he's supposedly talking about the food left in the tent.
** 4. Not much later, Olaf decides to keep Chabo/Sunny with him in his car, even though he has no reason to do so and it's even said that the car is overcrowded. Of course, it would have probably been too late for the Baudelaires even if they had caught wise by this point...
** In the Wide Window Mr. Poe falls for Count Olaf's Captain Sham disguise, that's all fine because he wasn't the only one, but you'd think that he'd be at least a bit suspicious about "Sham's" associate with the indeterminate gender who isn't even bothering with a disguise standing right next to him.

* HilariousInHindsight: Esme's dress that looks like a fire. A similar concept was used in TheHungerGames.

** Probably the biggest example would be in ''The Vile Village'', when he kills Jacques Snicker and framed it on the Baudelaire children.

* MoralEventHorizon: Count Olaf himself has no doubt crossed the line. The question is when?