The Bad Beginning

The Bad Beginning
US Cover of The Bad Beginning
Author	Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler)
Illustrator	Brett Helquist
Cover artist	Brett Helquist
Language	English
Series	A Series of Unfortunate Events
Genre	Gothic fiction Absurdist fiction Mystery
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	September 30, 1999
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	162
ISBN	0-06-440766-7
OCLC	41070636
Dewey Decimal	Fic 21
LC Class	PZ7.S6795 Bad 1999
Followed by	The Reptile Room

A Series of Unfortunate Events
This article is part of a series about

Creators Daniel Handler Brett Helquist
Books in the series Main books The Bad Beginning The Reptile Room The Wide Window The Miserable Mill The Austere Academy The Ersatz Elevator The Vile Village The Hostile Hospital The Carnivorous Carnival The Slippery Slope The Grim Grotto The Penultimate Peril The End Supplementary books Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography The Beatrice Letters All the Wrong Questions The Puzzling Puzzles The Blank Book The Notorious Notations The Dismal Dinner 13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket
Characters Main characters Count Olaf Violet Baudelaire Klaus Baudelaire Sunny Baudelaire  Lemony Snicket Side characters Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Polly Poe Beatrice Baudelaire Bertrand Baudelaire Beatrice Baudelaire II Dr. Montgomery “Uncle Monty” Montgomery Aunt Josephine Anwhistle Isaac "Ike" Anwhistle Jerome and Esmé Squalor Count Olaf’s Acting Troupe Carmelita Spats The Caligari Carnival Freaks The Man with a Beard But No Hair The Woman with Hair But No Beard Duncan, Isadora, and Quigley Quagmire Sir (the lumbermill owner) Charles (the assistant of Sir) Vice-Principal Nero Hector Hal Olivia “Madame Lulu” Caliban Bruce Captain Widdershins Frank, Ernest, and Dewey Denouement Inky the Incredibly Deadly Viper The Mambu du Mal (snake) The Lachrymose Leech The V.F.D. Crows The Volunteer Feline Detectives The Snow Gnats The V.F.D. Eagles The Great Unknown or the Bombinating Beast Additional characters The Poe family Justice Strauss Gustav Sebald Larry the Waiter Phil the Lumbermill Worker Dr. Georgina Orwell Mr. Remora Mrs. Bass Ms. Tench Mr. and Mrs. Quagmire The Council of Elders Mrs. Morrow Mr. Lesko Jacques Snicket Geraldine Julienne Milt the Shopkeeper Lou the Newspaper Boy Babs The Man with Pimples on His Chin Fiona Widdershins Kit Snicket The Castaways Ishmael The Unnamed Constable Judge Fred Gallo Jacquelyn Scieszka Mr. Tammerlane Chief of the Official Fire Department
Adaptations Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (film adaptation) A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game) The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events A Series of Unfortunate Events (board game) A Series of Unfortunate Events (card game) A Series of Unfortunate Events (audiobooks)

Book the First: The Bad Beginning is the first novel of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The novel tells the story of three children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who become orphans following a house fire in which their parents perished, and are sent to live with Count Olaf, who attempts to steal their inheritance.

The book was published on September 30, 1999, by HarperCollins and illustrated by Brett Helquist. An audiobook was released in 2003 with narration by Tim Curry, and several special editions of the book have been made. The book has been translated into many different languages, and inspired a film based on the series starring Jim Carrey and a Netflix TV series starring Neil Patrick Harris.