In this next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, the siblings pose as concierges at the Hotel Denouement to learn the identities and intentions of certain enemies, encountering characters from their past adventures and pondering the nature of nobility and villainy.

On the run as suspected murderers, the unlucky Baudelaire orphans find themselves trapped in the Caligari Carnival, where they must masquerade as freaks in order to hide from the evil Count Olaf.