Sacramento Public Library - Readalikes for A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan Aiken

Cousins Bonnie and Sylvia and their friend Simon face many adventures when their governess sends them to stay with her brutal sister.

Horton Halfpott, or The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor - Tom Angleberger

Horton, an upstanding kitchen boy, becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a series of thefts, which is also connected to the pursuit of a very eligible and wealthy young lady's affections.

The House With a Clock In Its Walls - John Bellairs

A boy goes to live with his magician uncle in a mansion that has a clock hidden in the walls which is ticking off the minutes until doomsday.

The Witches - Roald Dahl

A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

School of Fear - Gitty Daneshvari

Madeleine, Theo, Lulu, and Garrison are sent to a remote Massachusetts school to overcome their phobias, but tragedy strikes and the quartet must work together--with no adult assistance--to face their fears

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.

A Tale Dark and Grimm - Adam Gidwitz

Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk.

Pure Dead Magic - Debi Gliori

When their father is kidnapped and danger looms, the Strega-Borgia children, their mysterious new nanny, and a giant tarantula use magic and actual trips through the Internet to bring peace to their Scottish castle.

The Orphan of Awkward Falls - Keith Graves

Josephine Cravitz, the new girl in Awkward Falls, and her neighbor Thaddeus Hibble, a reclusive and orphaned boy inventor, become the targets of a mad cannibal from the local asylum for the criminally insane.

Island of the Aunts - Eva Ibbotson

Several sisters decide that they must kidnap children and bring them to their secluded island home to help with the work of caring for an assortment of unusual sea creatures.

The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry

The four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

Something Wickedly Weird: The Wooden Mile - Chris Mould

Stanley Buggle, happily anticipating a long summer vacation in the house he inherits from his great-uncle, discovers that along with the house he has also inherited some sinister neighbors, a talking stuffed fish, and a host of mysteries surrounding his great-uncle's death.

Edgar and Ellen: Rare Beasts - Charles Ogden

The sinister siblings, twins Edgar and Ellen, kidnap the pets of Nod's Limb's youngest citizens and turn them into "rare beasts" in hopes of making money to finance future pranks.

Liesl and Po - Lauren Oliver

A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist's runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe.

Count Karlstein - Philip Pullman

In the mountains of Switzerland the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two orphaned nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds.

Barnaby Grimes: The Curse of the Night Wolf - Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Soon after Victorian messenger Barnaby Grimes is attacked by a huge beast while crossing London's rooftops, he becomes entangled in a mystery involving patent medicine, impoverished patients, and very expensive furs.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling - Maryrose Wood

Miss Penelope Lumley is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves and must teach them to behave in a civilized manner quickly, in preparation for a Christmas ball.

Readalikes for A Series of Unfortunate Events

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