Curdled Cave

“	In front of the cave there was a sign saying it was for sale, and the orphans could not imagine who would want to buy such a phantasmagorical- the word 'phantasmagorical' here means 'all the creepy, scary words you can think of put together'- place.	”
	— Lemony Snicket, The Wide Window

Curdled Cave is a gloomy cavern located on the shore of Lake Lachrymose. It is where Josephine Anwhistle briefly fled to after she faked her death.

Description

Curdled Cave is located directly across from Damocles Dock and west of the Lavender Lighthouse within walking distance, though it takes longer to get there by foot than by sailing across the lake.

The opening is a dark hole in the cliff, that leads quickly into a pitch dark place. The water surrounding it is shallow, and the mouth of the cave had several rocks that ominously resemble teeth. Just beyond the entrance are twisted white rock formations that resemble moldy milk, presumably due to the namesake of the cave. The rocky floor is pale and dusty.

Sound is noted to echo from inside quite loudly, causing the cavern to seem much scarier than it is.

A "For Sale" sign is displayed at Curdled Cave's entrance, revealing that the real estate agents that claimed it are/were offering to sell it.^[1]

History

Curdled Cave may have once been a V.F.D. sanctuary, but it was claimed by a "treacherous team of realtors."^[2]

Following her escape from Count Olaf, Josephine Anwhistle used the cave as a hiding spot, leaving a coded message for the children so that they would find her there, expecting them to live there in hiding. After informing her the cave was for sale, she agreed to leave. As of the thirteenth book's conclusion, no one knows if Curdled Cave was ever sold and if it was, the identity of the buyer remains just as unknown.

2004 film Divergent Canon

I am NOT a MONKEY!

The following article or section concerns information that is considered even less canonical than the chance of a happy ending. Any information following should not be used as a source for the canon of the book series.

Video Game

In the video game, Curdled Cave appears as a brief level in the Wide Window sequence, where Sunny enters the cave through a small hole and must slide into the cave below to retrieve Aunt Josephine's Grammar Books; otherwise, she refuses to depart. The level features red puzzle pieces and can later be revisited once it is completed the first time.

Appearances

Books
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Books)
1. The Bad Beginning (1999):	Absent	7. The Vile Village (2001):	Absent
2. The Reptile Room (1999):	Absent	8. The Hostile Hospital (2001):	Absent
3. The Wide Window (2000):	Debut	9. The Carnivorous Carnival (2002):	Absent
4. The Miserable Mill (2000):	Absent	10. The Slippery Slope (2003):	Absent
5. The Austere Academy (2000):	Absent	11. The Grim Grotto (2004):	Absent
6. The Ersatz Elevator (2001):	Absent	12. The Penultimate Peril (2005):	Mentioned
13. The End (2006):		Absent
All the Wrong Questions
Who Could That Be at This Hour? (2012):	Absent	Shouldn't You Be in School? (2014):	Absent
When Did You See Her Last? (2013):	Absent	Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? (2015):	Absent
File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents (2014):		Absent
Snicketverse
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (2002):		Absent
The Dismal Dinner (2004):		Absent
The Beatrice Letters (2006):		Absent
29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy (2014):		Absent
The Hero of the Story (2017):		Absent
Poison for Breakfast (2021):		Absent
Other Snicket Books
The Baby in the Manger (2002):		Absent
The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (2007):		Absent
The Lump of Coal (2008):		Absent
The Composer Is Dead (2009):		Absent
13 Words (2010):		Absent
The Dark (2013):		Absent
Goldfish Ghost (2017):		Absent