What is the setting of The Bad Beginning?

The Bad Beginning takes place in a fictional town called Stain'd-by-the-Sea, located on the coast of a fictional country called the Country of Queequeg.

While the exact location is never explicitly specified, it is described as a small, dreary, and somewhat run-down town. The Baudelaire orphans, the protagonists of the book, arrive in Stain'd-by-the-Sea after their parents' mysterious death.

The town is filled with peculiar characters and has a sense of gloom and mystery surrounding it. The setting contributes to the overall atmosphere of the book, which is dark, suspenseful, and full of twists and turns.