40 Fun Facts About The Carnivorous Carnival

In The Carnivorous Carnival, which trait makes Kevin think of himself as a freak worth exhibiting?

Being ambidextrous is Kevin's entire act: he writes his name with each hand while the crowd jeers. He treats the knack as a curse rather than a gift.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, Violet and Klaus pose together as Beverly and Elliot, which kind of freak?

A two-headed person is the role: the pair squeeze into a single oversized shirt and speak in clashing voices, Violet low and Klaus high.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, Sunny hides as Chabo, a baby said to be half human and half which animal?

Wolf is the story Violet invents: a hunter fell in love with a handsome one, and growling, biting Chabo is supposedly their child.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, who tempts Hugo, Colette and Kevin into agreeing to feed Madame Lulu to the lions?

Esmé Squalor, jealous of the attention Olaf pays Lulu, wins the three over with flattering gifts and the promise of a place in his troupe.

What does Count Olaf do to Caligari Carnival before driving away at the end of The Carnivorous Carnival?

Olaf burns it down to destroy the evidence, and he forces the disguised Violet and Klaus to help start the blaze.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, which fortune-telling prop do the Baudelaires accidentally smash in Madame Lulu's tent?

A crystal ball shatters when the children tug at the tablecloth beneath it, and Lulu walks in to find them snooping among the pieces.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, Violet plans an escape vehicle built from the carts of which abandoned ride?

The roller coaster had stood out of order for years, overgrown with poison ivy, before Violet saw its carts as a way out of the carnival.

Which symbol, matching Count Olaf's ankle tattoo, decorates Madame Lulu's tent in The Carnivorous Carnival?

An eye, the insignia of V.F.D., is the children's first sign that the fortune-teller is tied to the same shadowy organisation as their enemy.

Which actor plays Count Olaf, who opens the freak show with a song, in Netflix's The Carnivorous Carnival episodes?

Neil Patrick Harris plays the villain throughout the Netflix series. Jim Carrey had the role in the 2004 film, which adapted only the first three books.

Like the rest of Lemony Snicket's series, The Carnivorous Carnival opens with a dedication to which lost love?

Beatrice is mourned in every dedication, and the final book reveals why she matters: she was the Baudelaire children's mother.

How do the Baudelaires reach Caligari Carnival at the start of The Carnivorous Carnival, unnoticed by Count Olaf?

In his car trunk, where they hid to escape their last refuge; Violet picks the lock to let them out once the troupe has walked away.

Which member of Count Olaf's troupe falls into the lion pit with Madame Lulu in The Carnivorous Carnival?

The bald man with the long nose tumbles in beside her during the crowd's chaos, and the starving lions devour them both.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, Colette performs in Madame Lulu's freak show as which kind of act?

A contortionist, Colette is ashamed of bending herself into knots but keeps doing it, reasoning that nobody would pay to watch her move normally.

Lemony Snicket, the credited author of The Carnivorous Carnival, is the pen name of which American writer?

Daniel Handler wrote the whole series as Snicket, and later worked on the Netflix adaptation as a writer and executive producer.

Which tool does Count Olaf use to torment the starving lions he delivers to Caligari Carnival as a gift?

A whip, used hard enough to leave scars, is Olaf's idea of training; he also keeps the lions hungry so they will be ravenous on show day.

Which book follows The Carnivorous Carnival, picking up after Count Olaf drives off with Sunny as his captive?

The Slippery Slope is Book the Tenth; Snicket's closing letter claims its manuscript had to be hidden one chapter at a time from his enemies.

The Carnivorous Carnival, Book the Ninth, opens moments after the ending of which Lemony Snicket book?

The Hostile Hospital left the orphans on the run and branded as murderers, which is why they need disguises at all in Book the Ninth.

Which artist drew the illustrations for The Carnivorous Carnival, including its cliffhanger final picture?

Brett Helquist even gets a mention inside the story: Snicket's closing letter promises a rare photograph to help him draw the next book.

From a phone booth at Caligari Carnival, whom does Violet try to call for help in The Carnivorous Carnival?

Mr. Poe never gets the call: the operator wants money the children lack, and hangs up while Violet tearfully explains the emergency.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, what is the real first name of the fake fortune-teller Madame Lulu?

Olivia drops the act once the children expose her tricks, admitting she belongs to V.F.D. and simply tells people what they hope to hear.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, where does Madame Lulu claim one Baudelaire parent is still alive?

The Mortmain Mountains hold one of the last V.F.D. headquarters, which is the only reason Lulu named them: she later admits she was guessing.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, which spice does Sunny add to Hugo's hot chocolate, her first cooking idea?

Cinnamon marks the moment Sunny discovers a talent for cooking; in the next book Count Olaf puts her to work cooking for his troupe.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, which food must Violet and Klaus eat together to win a job from Madame Lulu?

An ear of corn is their audition, a puzzle for two people with only two hands between them, and the clumsy meal becomes their stage act.

Caligari Carnival stands in which remote, empty region, a spot Madame Lulu blames for her lack of customers?

The hinterlands are so far from anywhere that Lulu calls a carnival there a bad business idea, which is why she needs a shocking new act.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, what do the Baudelaires find hidden under the table in Madame Lulu's tent?

A secret library of clippings, letters and files lets Lulu look up answers while customers are told not to peek, so her visions are plain research.

A newspaper reporter at the lion pit in The Carnivorous Carnival insists the Baudelaires murdered a count of which name?

Omar is her standing mistake: the same reporter had already told readers that the Baudelaires murdered a count of that name.

Reporter Geraldine Julienne covers the lion show in The Carnivorous Carnival for which error-prone newspaper?

The Daily Punctilio is the paper that branded the Baudelaires murderers; its star reporter arrives hoping for an exclusive on the lion show.

Which actress plays Madame Lulu in Netflix's two-part adaptation of The Carnivorous Carnival?

Sara Rue joined the cast in season two, playing a school librarian who takes on the Madame Lulu disguise and confronts Olaf at the lion pit.

Which actor, Firestorm in The Flash, plays Kevin in Netflix's adaptation of The Carnivorous Carnival?

Robbie Amell's casting was announced with a mock warning from the show, lamenting that its letters urging him to run away had not arrived.

The final illustration of The Carnivorous Carnival shows which object falling from the runaway caravan as a clue?

A Snow Scout handbook tumbles through the air, a sly preview: the troop it belongs to turns up in the very next book.

Hugo of The Carnivorous Carnival seems to be named after the author of which French classic?

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is by Victor Hugo, and the carnival's Hugo is a hunchback; Colette shares her name with a French writer too.

Madame Lulu's hidden machine in The Carnivorous Carnival fakes which dramatic weather effect during her fortune-telling?

Lightning flashes when sunlight strikes the mirrors through a hole in the tent; Violet later wants the machine's fan belt for her getaway invention.

On the map found in Madame Lulu's tent in The Carnivorous Carnival, what marks the V.F.D. headquarters?

A coffee stain on the map is no accident: Olaf himself points out that it pinpoints the hidden headquarters, handing him his next destination.

Madame Lulu's accent in The Carnivorous Carnival copies which Count Olaf alias, an Ersatz Elevator auctioneer?

Gunther was the fake foreign auctioneer; Lulu shares his habit of dropping an odd polite word into sentences, a hint that her mystique is an act.

In The Carnivorous Carnival, the hook-handed man threatens the freak-show performers with which unlikely weapon?

A giant noodle called the tagliatelle grande, long and damp, is his threat, though he never needs it because the performers behave like professionals.

Caligari Carnival shares its name with a 1920 silent horror film about a murderous hypnotist, made in which country?

Germany produced The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a landmark of Expressionist cinema in which the doctor uses a sleepwalker to commit his murders.

Which British actor narrates the audiobook of The Carnivorous Carnival, as for most of Lemony Snicket's series?

Tim Curry reads most of the series; the author narrated three early volumes himself, found the work arduous and gladly handed the job back.

Beverly and Elliot, Violet and Klaus's aliases in The Carnivorous Carnival, echo twins in which David Cronenberg film?

Dead Ringers stars Jeremy Irons as identical twin gynecologists named Beverly and Elliot: a dark source for a children's book to borrow from.

The beard that hides Sunny in The Carnivorous Carnival came from which Count Olaf disguise, worn in The Reptile Room?

Stephano's long beard, part of the assistant disguise Olaf used to reach Uncle Monty, is big enough to cover a baby from head to toe.

Condemning freak shows in The Carnivorous Carnival, Klaus cites which real Victorian sideshow figure?

The Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, was exhibited in a freak show in the 1880s; Klaus calls him John, an error that has long trailed him.