s of Unfortunat Serie e Ev A ents 13 SHOCKING SECRETS you’ll wish you never knew about LEMONY SNICKET perCollinsPub Har lish ers How to Conduct Your Investigation This important booklet contains twelve shocking secrets about Lemony Snicket – secrets that make up the keychain that holds the key that unlocks the door that hides the mystery. And, for those who successfully fill in the missing words on the following pages, the circled letters will form the THE END thirteenth and most shocking secret of all. IS NEAR. To properly collect the necessary evidence, you’ll need to use your sources carefully. With every close reading, more evidence comes to light. Dedicated volunteers will research all of the following. “Research” is a BE PREPARED. word which here means “search again” or “read at least twice.” 1) THE FIRST TWELVE BOOKS IN A SERIES OF There are certain individuals who think they UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, which contain all of Mr. Snicket’s know what Lemony Snicket’s books are about. accounts of the travails of the Baudelaire orphans. They are under the impression they understand 2) LEMONY SNICKET: THE UNAUTHORIZED who he is. They believe they know what to expect. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, which is the most incomprehensive source of information on the author available in this country. In fact, the truth is far worse than such people ever imagined. 3) WWW.LEMONYSNICKET.COM, where one can find important information and sign up for regular updates. This invaluable booklet is intended to prepare you for The End, which is coming Friday the 13th of October, 2006. It discusses some of the most important people, events, and SHOCKING SECRET #1: issues in Mr. Snicket’s chronicles WHO YOU THINK HE IS. of the Baudelaire orphans. LEMONY SNICKET IS NOT SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS Violet Baudelaire Klaus Baudelaire Sunny Baudelaire Count Olaf Dr. Monty Josephine Montgomery Anwhistle Hook-handed Man Eleanora Poe Mr. Poe Jerome Squalor Carmelita Spats Esmé Squalor Bald Man Justice Strauss Bruce White-faced Woman #1 White-faced Woman #2 Isadora Duncan Quigley Quagmire Quagmire Quagmire Cpt. Widdershins Neither Man Nor Woman Fiona Hal Mrs. Bass Mme. Lulu Village of Fowl Vice Principal Nero Devotees Sir Charles Colette Hugo Mr. Remora Kevin Phil Man with beard but no hair Frank Dewey Ernest Denoument Denoument Denoument Hector Woman with hair but no beard SHOCKING SECRET #2: SHOCKING SECRET #3: LEMONY SNICKET IS ONE OF THREE SIBLINGS. LEMONY SNICKET’S NIECE IS AN ORPHAN. Selected Evidence from On the Subject of BOOKS 1-3 COUNT OLAF Lemony Snicket’s research has revealed THE BAD BEGINNING the actor known as Count Olaf to be The wretched book that started all the trouble. a villain of uncommon ugliness and Book the First, in which: cruelty. His distinguishing • The Baudelaire mansion is destroyed by a suspicious fire. physical characteristics include a single eyebrow and a tattoo of an eye • Count Olaf, criminal mastermind, adopts three orphans. on his ankle. • Violet Baudelaire invents a grappling _ _ _ _. For many years, experts believed that THE REPTILE ROOM Count Olaf was driven largely by More venomous than a viper, and almost twice as unnerving. greed, due to his relentless efforts to Book the Second, in which: steal the Baudelaire fortune. More • Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, world renowned recent evidence, however, appears to herpetologist, unveils the Incredibly Deadly Viper. implicate him in a much wider conspiracy concerning the Baudelaires. • The Baudelaire orphans and their uncle attend _ _ _ _ _ _ _ IN THE SNOW, a film by Dr. Gustav Sebald. • Someone important disguised as a taxi driver passes unnoticed. “ I’m sure you have heard it said that appearance does not THE WIDE WINDOW matter so much, and that it is what’s on the inside that More destructive than a hurricane, and almost as damp. counts. This is, of course, utter nonsense, because if it Book the Third, in which: were true then people who were good on the inside would • Aunt Josephine reveals that her mother-in-law had only one never have to comb their hair or take a bath, and the whole eyebrow. world would smell even worse than it already does.” • Someone tells the story of how _ _ _ Anwhistle was eaten alive. —Lemony Snicket, The Miserable Mill • A secret message is sent using grammatical errors. SHOCKING SECRET #4: SHOCKING SECRET #5: LEMONY SNICKET IS WANTED FOR ARSON. LEMONY SNICKET GREW UP WITH A TERRIBLE VILLAIN. Selected Evidence from On the Subject of BOOKS 4-6 V.F.D. The first known mention of V.F.D. appears at the end of THE MISERABLE MILL Book the Fifth, The Austere Academy. Its discovery More arduous than hard labor, and almost as rewarding. radically altered most experts’ theories about the Book the Fourth, in which: The insignia identity of Lemony Snicket and the circumstances of V.F.D. • The Baudelaires are put to work in a factory owned surrounding the Baudelaire orphans. by a man known only as _ _ _ . V.F.D. is a secret organization whose members • Lemony Snicket mentions a 200-page book written by Beatrice. are highly trained in the use of coded • Sunny Baudelaire defends herself in a sword fight using her teeth. messages, disguises, cartography (the study of maps), library sciences, knots, etc. THE AUSTERE ACADEMY As for what the letters “V.F.D.” actually stand for, More ghastly than boarding school, and almost as interminable. there are numerous mentions in Mr. Snicket’s Book the Fifth, in which: work of places and things with these initials – including Very Fast Delivery, the Village of • At boarding school, the Baudelaires befriend the Quagmire Fowl Devotees, Volunteers Fighting Disease, triplets, who also lost everything in a suspicious fire. and the Volunteer Fire Department. Most • Duncan Quagmire discovers an article in the Bangkok Gazette appear to be decoys or coincidences. regarding an escaped murderer matching the description of Count Olaf. • Sunny Baudelaire is impersonated by a sack of _ _ _ _ _ . THE ERSATZ ELEVATOR More eerie than an elevator shaft, and almost as dark. “ It is very unnerving to be proven wrong, particularly Book the Sixth, in which: when you are really right and the person who is really • Two of the orphans are imprisoned in a dark cage wrong is the one who is proving you wrong and proving deep underground. himself, wrongly, right. Right?” • A plot involving a secret island is briefly referred to. —Lemony The Reptile Snicket, Room • A box containing V.F.D. is opened, revealing Very Fancy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . SHOCKING SECRET #7: SHOCKING SECRET #6: WHEN HE WAS A BABY, LEMONY SNICKET WAS LEMONY SNICKET ATTENDED BOARDING SCHOOL. KIDNAPPED BY A SECRET ORGANIZATION. Selected Evidence from On the Subject of BOOKS 7-9 BEATRICE “To Beatrice – darling, dearest, dead.” THE VILE VILLAGE —Author’s dedication, More terrifying than a mob, and almost as ill-tempered. Book the Seventh, in which: The Bad Beginning • The Daily Punctilio publishes an inaccurate story regarding the death of Count Olaf. Lemony Snicket has dedicated each book in A Series of Unfortunate • Crows are used to transmit secret messages. Events to the same person: Beatrice. Most scholars agree that Snicket • Someone tries to escape in a _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ was in love with Beatrice and that she died, but little else is known hot air mobile home. about her identity. Many believe that she may be the missing link connecting Lemony Snicket to the Baudelaire orphans. THE HOSTILE HOSPITAL More distasteful than medicine, and almost as sick. Book the Eighth, in which: • The Snicket File is discovered. • 14-year-old Laura V. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is wheeled into an operating theater to have her head removed. “ I have seen many amazing things in my long and troubled • The existence of a secret pocket in the Baudelaires’ mother’s coat life history. I have seen a series of corridors built entirely is revealed. out of human skulls. I have seen a volcano erupt and send THE CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL a wall of lava crawling toward a small village. I have seen a More frightening than a fortune teller, and almost as suspicious. woman I loved picked up by an enormous eagle and flown Book the Ninth, in which: to its high mountain nest.” ­­ • A fortune teller’s crystal ball is broken – for the second time. —Lemony Snicket, The Wide Window • The expression “the belly of the beast” appears eight times. • A person is devoured by _ _ _ _ _ . SHOCKING SECRET #9: SHOCKING SECRET #8: . LEMONY SNICKET HELPED BEATRICE COMMIT LEMONY SNICKET WAS FIRED FROM THE DAILY PUNCTILIO A SERIOUS CRIME BEFORE HER DEATH. Selected Evidence from On the Subject of BOOKS 10-12 SECRET CODES Members of V.F.D. are believed to routinely transmit secret messages to their associates THE SLIPPERY SLOPE using a variety of methods. These include, but are not limited to: More chilling than winter, and almost as icy. Book the Tenth, in which: • The use of intentional grammatical errors • The Baudelaires discover V.F.D. Headquarters. • Anagrams, or mixing up the letters in a word to form a new word • Klaus Baudelaire recalls finding a box of Verdant Flammable • Verbal Fridge Dialogue, which encodes information using items in a refrigerator Devices inside his father’s desk. • Verse Fluctuation Declaration, in which words in a familiar poem are substituted • Sunny Baudelaire prepares False Spring Rolls for her with different words captors on Mount _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .