Ok, now I'm really hooked. Having devoured the unfortunate events in volumes 1, 2, and 7, I tackled this book -- which turned out to be the ideal read for night time just before bed. Fully expecting the genre to be growing tiresome, I found this tale even more hilarious and gripping. Count Olaf grows ever more evil, and his girlfriend Esme Squalor (whose stiletto heels are fashioned from real stillettos) are joined by quite a cadre of strange characters in Heimlich Hospital. A suspicious shopkeeper, unnecessary surgery (a threatened cranioectomy!), and heart-shaped balloons are a few of the treats in store for the hapless orphans and enterprising reader. No one can match Lemony Snicket -- he's truly one of a kind. ( )

I must say, what a dreadful hospital! It's only fitting for the plight of our poor orphans.

Oh, I'm sorry, you caught me thinking out loud. As long you're not "certain people," and after you catch me thinking out loud, you don't put me in a holding cell filled with flesh-eating lemurs, then I suppose you're allowed to catching me thinking out loud every once in a while. Do you hear that? It sounds like a I hear a typewriter. Do you suppose somebody is transcribing us talking right now? I suppose it may just be the old pipes clattering about above us, or the machine gun shooting range above that.

Did you read The Hostile Hospital yet? It's Mr. Snicket's account of the poor Baudelaire orphans, who really haven't had a break since their parents died in that miserable fire. This time, after fleeing the Village of Fowl Devotees, still the accused murderers of Count Olaf, who was not actually dead at the time, they find their only refuge: the Heimlich Hospital, which was only half a hospital, as there was an unfinished wing in which those poor orphans waited out the night each night during their stay.

But every cloud has a silver lining, right? I mean, they did learn a valuable secret, but at the same time came upon an even more mysterious mystery to go along with the other mysteries they have encountered.

And that cloud's silver lining attracted the only creature that would be so greedy as to seek out the silver linings of clouds, Count Olaf. I was so terrified when he and his accomplices came to the hospital and made matters worse for the orphans.

I certainly hope that those orphans have found their rest. Or at least a lull in the terrible events that plague them.

You haven't read it yet? Well, I would definitely recommend you do, provided you have read the preceding seven tomes happening before this one. You will probably be disappointed, but it will not be because of Mr. Snicket's writing. But what is life without a little disappointment? I suppose it's "enjoyable," but that is beyond the point.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must figure out what that rattling noise is... ( )

Ah, the poor Baudelaires go from bad to worse. Their series of horrible guardians seems cushy compared to their current fugitive status. Snicket adds a nice twist in this installment, but I'm still frustrated by the otherwise-brilliant Baudelaire's inability to put the VFD pieces together. Still, I'm glad to see them learning from their previous misfortunes and taking their fate into their hands. ( )

This is the eighth eviscerating episode in the lives of the Baudelaire children. The Baudelaire's narrowly escape a police net and fall in with some hippy's who give them a ride to the Heimlich Hospital. The Baudelaire's become much more proactive in this book trying to improve their situation, not counting on others to fix things for them.

Another good book in the series and if you have made it through the last 7 books I'm sure you'll also hate the Horrible Hostile Hospital. ( )

As the series continues and the clues fall in place I am more and more hooked. Another very good entry (there have been some not so good ones) that continues to add to the mystery. It was fun having Count Olaf only participating in the story over the hospital intercom.

It's also good to see the books continue to break away from the format of the early entries in the series which was getting a little monotonous. ( )

In the book the horrors facing the Baudelaires increase and Count Olaf nearly succeeds in killing Violet. They also discover that one of their parents may have survived the fire at the Baudelaire mansion. At the end of the book the siblings are faced with a terrible decision. I love how just when you think the Baudelaire's have suffered enough, Count Olaf pops upto make them suffer further. ( )

I'm glad Snicket's continued to shake up the pattern of events in the book. The end of this one was the best cliffhanger yet. ( )

Eight in the Series of Unfortuante Events books.
they found the 13th page of the Snicket file and Count Olaf set the hospital on fire! It was a good book in the series. ( )

The suspense is increasing as we accompany the Beaudelaires on another terrifying adventure. Learning more about the mystery of V.F.D. and what, exactly, Snicket himself has to do with the tale besides being its author. ( )

Picking up where the last installment left off, the Baudelaires find their way to a half-built hospital, which contains an archive with more secrets about their parents and VFD. Of course, they can't learn much as Count Olaf attempts to decapitate Violent and then burns down the hospital. The only escape for the Baudelaires is to hide in the trunk of Count Olaf's car! ( )

Scary surgery! ( )

Kind of weird for me...this book. But it was good just like all the other books. ( )

Summary: The Baudelair's are undercover at a "hostile" hopspital. But are their disguises too convincing, as Violet is put into a sticky situation?
Review: This was my favorite one in the series. ( )

Now that Snicket has broken the mould of earlier volumes, he doesn't look back. The humour is still arriving, predominantely through the writing style, but the tone remains darker than early books and suspense is rising. Clues are piling up, but the answers are not. ( )

As if things couldn't get any worse, the Baudelaires are now on the run from the law. Their situation doesn't improve as they join up with the well-meaning but completely ineffective Volunteers Fighting Disease, singing a ridiculous song and handing out heart-shaped balloons to patients, and then spending their nights in the unfinished wing of the hospital. Once again, the children narrowly escape death and Count Olaf's clutches, and discover more clues about their parents along the way, but that's not to say that things ever get any better for them. ( )

This book also pulled me in and I like how in this book they're not all working together. ( )

More of the same. I need to take a break from this series because I'm tiring of it. I rolled my eyes at several things that happened...the world these children live in is so damn preposterous! ( )

The eighth in the series.
The Baudelaire orphans hide in the unfinished half of a hospital at night and during the day they work in the Library of Records, trying to find out about V.F.D. and the fire that killed their parents. Until Count Olaf appears once again. ( )

I wish I hadn't started reading this series but now I have to find out how it ends. ( )

This installment of the story of the unfortunate Baudelaire orphans deepens the mystery, in which the runaway orphans, falsely accused of the murder of Count Olaf, find themselves at Heimlich Hospital, where they discover that one of their parents may have survived the fire, and Violet is captured by Esme and prepped for a craniectomy. Klaus and Sunny rescue her and make a harrowing escape, only to find themselves in the belly of the beast at the end of the book. It is becoming more and more apparent that the purported author, or at least his murdered brother, Jacques Snicket, are involved somehow in the unfortunate events, and I suspect that the perpetual subject of the books' dedications, Beatrice, will be shown to play a significant part eventually also. This is truly a clever and engagingly dark series, and I am glad that the original format of the books seems to be evolving. ( )

The 8th installment is darker than the previous installments of this series. Close calls for the 3 main characters are quite a close shave indeed in this book that would glue you to this one until you're finished with this one.

The three Baudelaire orphans, Violet (the inventor), Klaus (the intelligent) and Sunny (the biter) are on the run because they are now three most wanted fugitives who are charged with murder of the Count Omar (Olaf by misprint of The Daily Punctilio). They needed shelter where they could hide and hopefully people won't recognised them from the pictures printed on the Daily Punctilio regardless they misnamed them. A chance encounter with the ever so suspicious VFD (this time Volunteers Fighting Diseases), brought them to the Heimlich Hospital because they were on the run from the store keeper who recognized them.

Things took a worse turn (again), when they heard a very familiar voice in the speaker. Count Olaf (the one who are after their entire fortune and would do anything to get it. and i mean ANYTHING!) found them again and this time with a chance they found the files about their parents in the Library of Records, which Count Olaf was looking for. Esme Squalor however found them and Violet got captured when the Baudelaire orphans split up. This time the Baudelaire orphans found themselves a fixed where Violet was about to get kill by Count Olaf's crew!

I have to admit, it took me a while before I actually reach this book and sit down with it. The characters really pull me in with the fast thumping plots. The kids grew up with you in this book. You'd find them in a much mature state, Sunny finally could utter real 1-2 words. There is also the usual vocabulary lessons between the storylines. I pretty much enjoyed reading this installment like the earlier ones. I'm sure the lot of you would too. ( )

Not one of the better books in the series so far. That's not to say that it's not a fun read, but there's still something that's been lost when compared to the earlier books. The siblings are split up again in this book, and this time it's Klaus who has to shoulder most of the responsibility for saving the day, but somehow it's not nearly as scary as the other times when the orphans weren't able to work as a team. We get some more clues, mainly about the Snickets' relationship to the Baudelaires' story, but the payoff in this book just didn't seem to be as thrilling as in previous tales. ( )

Here's another fine mess for the Baudelaire orphans to get out of--hospital hijinx and daffy diseases. The strength of the series is that our young heroes are always much smarter than the hare-brained adults shuffling around, and it shows that with ingenuity, vocabulary, and... erm... pointy teeth, one can get out of any situation (unless of course one's feet is being gnawed away by rabid wolverines).

And peeking out from the nooks and crannies of the book is our own would-be Pynchon or Salinger, Mr. Snicket. Playing Dante to his own long-dead Beatrice, and generally being elusive, Lemony Snicket is a real joy, writing a fun story for kids, but also throwing in the occasional Woolf reference or Ancient Greek (out of the mouths of babes!) for the scholars who are paying attention.