Anyone host murder mystery type party?

[luvmyfam444]

Did you buy it? Where from? Brainstorming ideas for dd's 13th party. Don't love the idea of murder per se but something along those lines could be really fun...tell me how it went for you....

If you're not actors is it still doable & fun?

 

[angelmav]

Have both hosted and attended and they are great fun! I just found a story line I liked for one at a game store at the mall, but there are some pretty serious ones online too.

You dont need to be an actor, the parts are all scripted. Also fun to go in/out of character as the party moves along. Breaks the ice, is entertaining and alot of fun!

 

[bicker]

We hosted a couple, about twenty years ago. I think it would work better with teens than it did with thirtysomethings and fortysomethings.

I do recommend the ones that are not explicitly scripted. It seemed to work better when people were provided with personal dossiers, and information about the secrets they kept, and then ad libbed their roles based on that, rather than reading off scripts. The one that worked best for us is no longer in-print - it was PartyZone: The Inheritance.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I've done a few--the first was for my 16th birthday many moons ago

They are a lot of fun, however if you have people who will not get into it and play along (of any age) that can kill it very quickly.

They also generally only work if you have just the right number of people. Too many people and some people have no character to be and essentially no part in the play (you can sort of use them as extras and let them guess but it really isn't as much fun and I would think at 13 they would really feel left out). Too few people and you do not have enough characters and are not getting all the clues out there. This can make it hard for invites:
What do you do if half the girls can't come?
Do you have a B list (and how the heck do you keep those from feeling like second class friends)?
If you can figure out a way around the above (maybe talk to parents first and find out who could actually come the day of the party and only invite ones who could) then I would still have as many coming as there are roles and have at least 2 adults (or siblings of the birthday girl) ready to step in if someone gets sick or is otherwise unable to come at the last minute.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Ahh thanks for the comments - that's why I LOVE this place - y'all have me think through things COMPLETELY!

Since noone RSVP's anymore you are right - this wouldn't be the best idea...

 

[Hannathy]

My DD has been to 3 of them! 1 great, 1 fair and 1 ok. It really helps if you have people who get into these kind of things.
the great one was at a party with mostly theater/art type kids. They were seniors in high school and they brought props and costumes and really got into it. Like one of the young men was a southern belle with accent and parasol. and I guess he was hilarious!

The fair one was all girls at a birthday party and the eh one was at a picnic but the person brought no props and it was a mixed group with the wrong personalities. they just read the parts without any feeling or trying to get into the characters.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Funny story from about 1992.

I'm working in a hotel / convention center in their AV department. I am wheeling a TV monitor and VCR to a room... as I turn a hallway corner, I see a guy laying on the floor with what looks like blood coming out of his back....

I go to help the guy, and he turns to me and tells me that it is part of a murder mystery weekend at the hotel....

 

[IdesOmarch]

If you live in or around a large city you can probably find some professional actors that do these types of things. They'll come in with about 3 or 4 actors and do all the acting, and the party people just have to figure out the clues and stuff, kind of like playing that game Clue, but with live actors. That is one way to do it. I think some are called Murder Mystery Theater or Dinners or something like that, never done it but it looks pretty fun.

 

[suzannen]

One of my DD's birthday parties was a "CLUE - Murder Mystery Party." She invited 5 girls over for a sleepover and counting her, they became the 6 characters in the Parkers Brother s' CLUE Game.
Her invitation read:
A MURDER HAS BEEN COMMITTED
YOU HAVE BEEN NAMED AS A PRIME SUSPECT!
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO APPEAR
AND HELP SOLVE THIS CRIME
AT DD’S 12TH BIRTHDAY MURDER MYSTERY DINNER & SLUMBER PARTY
to be held at the DD Familys’ Mansion on Such&suchdate

I bought fun little costumy things for each character (Red boa & fancy hat for Miss Scarlet, safari hat & yellow top Col. Mustard, purple hat & glasses for Prof Plum...) I pulled girls' names out of one hat & then a characters' name out of the other. I bought yellow crime scene tape and had it all over the front door and outlined a body (that of Mr. Boddy) on the floor. (I warned my neighbors about this, so they would not think a real crime had been committed and it was the talk of the neighborhood.) I turned rooms in our house into the mansion's rooms - bath became the Conservatory, a bedroom became a billiard room and I put play weapons throughout the rooms.

I had them play the board game one time at the start, so they all understood the rules and then I pulled the 3 cards (murderer, room & weapon). Then, instead of rolling dice and moving the pieces on the board, they would roll dice in turn, but then actually run into the appropriate rooms to announce who they thought did it. When the murderer was correctly announced, I played the police/constable and led the murderer away to jail. They thought that was hysterical. They ended up playing & acting it out about 3 times. And, later in the evening, they watched the 1985 comedy movie CLUE with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Lesley Ann Warren.

If you are having more than 6, you could divide them into teams (3 kids work together as Col. Mustard). The girls are now all close to 17, but they all still talk about that party (along with our Alice in Wonderland Party). We had fun.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Why not just play Disney's Guilty Party on the Wii?

 

[BeefJerky]

I have been to one and it was fun. The planner had a theme to it so it wasn't just a murder mystery party but has shades of the 1920s (everyone had costumes or those hats from the stores)

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I've never been to one, but it sounds fun. The first thing that came to mind for me (like previously mentioned) would be something like the game Clue.

 

[Kirby]

A long time ago, back in the '80's, my cousin and I hosted a murder mystery party at her house. We played How To Host A Murder and got it at Toys R Us. We had a blast! There were four couples and we all dressed up. We were supposed to be in a mansion where a murder was committed. I know that there is another game that takes place on a train.

 

[BeefJerky]

I'm not going down for this!

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I'm not going down for this!

I forgot about that episode

 

[luvmyfam444]

Funny story from about 1992.

I'm working in a hotel / convention center in their AV department. I am wheeling a TV monitor and VCR to a room... as I turn a hallway corner, I see a guy laying on the floor with what looks like blood coming out of his back....

I go to help the guy, and he turns to me and tells me that it is part of a murder mystery weekend at the hotel....

Ibet that scared you! Good thing you didn't call 911 & have to explain it to them! LOL

 

[luvmyfam444]

One of my DD's birthday parties was a "CLUE - Murder Mystery Party." She invited 5 girls over for a sleepover and counting her, they became the 6 characters in the Parkers Brother s' CLUE Game.
Her invitation read:
A MURDER HAS BEEN COMMITTED
YOU HAVE BEEN NAMED AS A PRIME SUSPECT!
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO APPEAR
AND HELP SOLVE THIS CRIME
AT DD’S 12TH BIRTHDAY MURDER MYSTERY DINNER & SLUMBER PARTY
to be held at the DD Familys’ Mansion on Such&suchdate

I bought fun little costumy things for each character (Red boa & fancy hat for Miss Scarlet, safari hat & yellow top Col. Mustard, purple hat & glasses for Prof Plum...) I pulled girls' names out of one hat & then a characters' name out of the other. I bought yellow crime scene tape and had it all over the front door and outlined a body (that of Mr. Boddy) on the floor. (I warned my neighbors about this, so they would not think a real crime had been committed and it was the talk of the neighborhood.) I turned rooms in our house into the mansion's rooms - bath became the Conservatory, a bedroom became a billiard room and I put play weapons throughout the rooms.

I had them play the board game one time at the start, so they all understood the rules and then I pulled the 3 cards (murderer, room & weapon). Then, instead of rolling dice and moving the pieces on the board, they would roll dice in turn, but then actually run into the appropriate rooms to announce who they thought did it. When the murderer was correctly announced, I played the police/constable and led the murderer away to jail. They thought that was hysterical. They ended up playing & acting it out about 3 times. And, later in the evening, they watched the 1985 comedy movie CLUE with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Lesley Ann Warren.

If you are having more than 6, you could divide them into teams (3 kids work together as Col. Mustard). The girls are now all close to 17, but they all still talk about that party (along with our Alice in Wonderland Party). We had fun.

Thanks for sharing! that does sound like a BLAST! You are a great party planner!

 

[luvmyfam444]

Why not just play Disney's Guilty Party on the Wii?

Never heard of this...may need to check it out!

 

[luvmyfam444]

Thanks for the idea of hiring actors - have a friend that may be willing to do this & get some more of her local actors together....I'm definitely gonna ask her about it - we'll see. (not sure if it'll be affordable - but MAYBE!)

 

[Terry36]

I love this idea! I've been wracking my brain about what type of party to give DD this year, a Mystery or masquarade party. I think I'll speak to DD about your ideas below. Please share more information about this party, like did use the theme for the food as well?

One of my DD's birthday parties was a "CLUE - Murder Mystery Party." She invited 5 girls over for a sleepover and counting her, they became the 6 characters in the Parkers Brother s' CLUE Game.
Her invitation read:
A MURDER HAS BEEN COMMITTED
YOU HAVE BEEN NAMED AS A PRIME SUSPECT!
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO APPEAR
AND HELP SOLVE THIS CRIME
AT DD’S 12TH BIRTHDAY MURDER MYSTERY DINNER & SLUMBER PARTY
to be held at the DD Familys’ Mansion on Such&suchdate

I bought fun little costumy things for each character (Red boa & fancy hat for Miss Scarlet, safari hat & yellow top Col. Mustard, purple hat & glasses for Prof Plum...) I pulled girls' names out of one hat & then a characters' name out of the other. I bought yellow crime scene tape and had it all over the front door and outlined a body (that of Mr. Boddy) on the floor. (I warned my neighbors about this, so they would not think a real crime had been committed and it was the talk of the neighborhood.) I turned rooms in our house into the mansion's rooms - bath became the Conservatory, a bedroom became a billiard room and I put play weapons throughout the rooms.

I had them play the board game one time at the start, so they all understood the rules and then I pulled the 3 cards (murderer, room & weapon). Then, instead of rolling dice and moving the pieces on the board, they would roll dice in turn, but then actually run into the appropriate rooms to announce who they thought did it. When the murderer was correctly announced, I played the police/constable and led the murderer away to jail. They thought that was hysterical. They ended up playing & acting it out about 3 times. And, later in the evening, they watched the 1985 comedy movie CLUE with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Lesley Ann Warren.

If you are having more than 6, you could divide them into teams (3 kids work together as Col. Mustard). The girls are now all close to 17, but they all still talk about that party (along with our Alice in Wonderland Party). We had fun.