How to plan a spooky murder mystery dinner!

Giulia Michieletto
Author

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Looking for alternative ideas for your evenings with friends? Then try organizing a murder mystery dinner! Adding a touch of mystery to your social moments is a great idea! An original and fun idea for doing something different and memorable.

In this article, we've collected some tips on how to organize a homemade murder mystery dinner. Read to the end to discover all the secrets!

Murder Mystery Dinner: The Rules and How It Works

Murder mystery dinner is a game that is becoming increasingly popular. Events are usually organized in restaurants or small theaters, where a troupe of actors play a group of characters that always includes at least one victim and a murderer. Guests are left with the task of investigating the murder and identifying the culprit.

The rules for a murder mystery party are simple. The idea comes from murder parties, events in early twentieth-century Anglo-Saxon society that included parties with simulated investigations to solve staged crimes. In the murder mystery dinner, the challenge is to find the perpetrator of a mysterious crime while enjoying a meal together. As in the board game Cluedo, the participants must make hypotheses to trace the motive and the weapon used by questioning the actors and reasoning about their answers. If they manage to solve the plot, they win the game; otherwise, the killer will do it. frank.

Be careful, however, because not all interpreters tell the truth: the murderer and his possible accomplices, in fact, can lie to mislead the investigation.

Over the years, homemade murder mystery dinners have also become popular, that is, the idea of organizing a do-it-yourself evening involving only friends and acquaintances.

Organizing your own detective party is easy, especially if you like playing with your imagination and involving the guests with masks and costumes. For example, if your home is dominated by geometric 1970s decor, you could decide to travel back in time 50 years with a noir hippie-themed evening.

How to host a homemade murder mystery dinner

The main fun of a home event consists in not hiring a professional theater company but in involving only the guests. As in a role-playing game, there will be a narrator whose task is to guide the group towards solving the mystery, and everyone will participate. with your own inventiveness and desire to experiment.

With a little imagination and the help of a few friends, you will then have to write a story worthy of Agatha Christie to construct your locked room puzzle and define the details of the investigation. When outlining the story, you can choose to:

  • assign only the fundamental roles, therefore victim or victims, killer and any accomplices, and leave the guests as spectators and detectives;
  • imagine a role for everyone invited, preparing character sheets to make the experience unique.

The second option is, obviously, more fun and immersive, but it also requires greater organization and an extra pinch of creativity. If you manage to organize a real role-playing game, you can have fun with gadgets and customizations to help everyone get into their part.

You then have to choose what type of mystery to develop. There are two main hypotheses:

  1. there is a single crime, and the evening revolves entirely around the investigation;
  2. as time passes, the murderer claims more and more victims by “killing” guests one at a time.

The second option adds chills and suspense, turning the party into a race against time before the killer eliminates everyone and wins the game.

Are you already getting the first ideas for a murder mystery dinner to host at home? Then the tips you'll find in the next paragraph will come in handy!

Murder Mystery Dinner: How to Organize It with Our 7 Tips

In a homemade murder mystery dinner, every detail becomes fundamental. Let's look at some suggestions to help your guests become expert Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple:

  1. If a large table isn't necessary for your script, it's better to opt for a homemade buffet menu that allows everyone involved to move freely and interact more easily;
  2. Never miss out on a good bottle of wine. A nice glass of wine helps you loosen up and get into character better;
  3. involve at least 6 people to have a sufficient number of investigators in addition to the murderer and the victim;
  4. if you are the owner or hostess of the house, don't reserve the role of narrator, but get involved in the investigation to set a good example with your enthusiasm;
  5. also prepare some riddles to solve and scatter clues here and there; to increase engagement;
  6. If you have a large garden, setting up a beautiful outdoor dinnerwith a little mystery can become even more exciting;
  7. Don't overdo the details. Providing information about the characters is fun, but so is the opportunity to give free rein to your imagination. Let each guest add their own personal touch to the evening!

With these 7 tips you know everything you need to know about organizing your murder mystery dinner. Unleash your imagination and involve everyone in a mysterious evening you'll remember for a long time!

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