Ever host a murder mystery dinner?

[Tinijocaro]

I plan on having one next month but am looking for advice-a good site to get one from, themes, any ideas. It sounds like fun-we will have anywhere from 10-16 people here. Thanks!

 

[clarabelle]

Yes
I did one for my birthday a couple of years ago. I used an online company called "Dinner and a Murder"

It was great fun getting dressed up. But the actual event was just too stressful for me. I think I am way too type a. You have to kind of "go with the flow"

I also wished we had suspended the murder during dinner -I really wanted to just talk to my friends -but we were trying to stay in character

I wouldn't do it again without recruiting someone to help with it. Or -I would get another friend to host -and I would help them

Hope this helps

 

[2cats1kid]

I love them! We've done a few now, all out of boxes. There is How to Host a Murder, Murder a la Carte and Murder Myster Dinners (at least over here). Of these How to Host a Murder are the best - the attention to detail is better, and the murderer doesn't know they are the murderer till the final round, so everyone is kept guessing. One I did I knew I was the murderer from the start and it just wasn't as much fun.

The best ones have been the ones where everyone is into it and makes an effort to dress up etc. There was one I went to where I'd dressed up and a couple hadn't bothered and sort of rolled their eyes at me - that one was a bit of a flop LOL.

If you do it, keep the food simple! You will be trying to follow the unfolding story, answer questions posed to your character, etc. and the last thing you want is to be preparing Michelin food while it's all going on.

Oh! And be prepared to match theme to weather. Sounds strange, but we did one set in Egypt or somewhere in Victorian times so we were all dressed up to the nines with bustles and high necks and heck knows what else and it was 80+ degrees outside! To say we were hot is an understatement!

I'm planning on doing one for friends soon, and DD wants to do an all-girl teen one for her birthday party, so I think she has the bug too.

 

[Art 1]

Yes, and have been to a few. Good fun.

 

[PatsGirl]

I've done "How to Host a Murder" and it was alot of fun. I can't remember the name of the theme but it was based on the 60s with cheerleaders and hockey players This game includes invites and food suggestions. Lots of fun so long as everyone is into it. It only takes one or two who really don't want to be there to put a damper on it. We couldn't find any guys who wanted to play, so it was 8 girls and we all had lots of fun

 

[2cats1kid]

My fave How To Host a Murder (so far) was The Chicago Caper. It's set in 1920's Chicago and I got to wear a flapper dress and everything - it was cool! The chap hosting it owns a grade II listed building, which is like a building with restrictions on what you can do to it because of its historical significance, and had a tiny little dining room away from the rest of the house, so we gathered in the front bit of the house and then were led into the "speakeasy" - fab setting!

 

[KandD]

We hosted one for Halloween last year. Everyone had a great time and wants to do one again.
The only complaint we had was we had eight people and we did a game for 8-12 people. There were a lot of clues for characters that we were not playing with which confused things a bit. Other than that we all enjoyed it and we laughed all night long!

 

[Metro West]

No...but I would LOVE to go to one!

 

[Art 1]

No...but I would LOVE to go to one!

Check out Sleuths mystery dinner show on I drive near wet and wild. We hosted a few b day parties there when my daughter was younger. Would take a gang of her friends, they loved it and so did my wife and I.

 

[Micca]

DW & I went to one hosted by a bed & breakfast a few years ago. We had dinner, played the game, and had a nice breakfast the following morning. BTW,I was the MURDERER

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I have hosted 2 of them. The first one we ever did was out of a box (I can't remember the name ...) but it was great. EVERYONE had a great time. We did another one the following year using a website version and it wasn't as good. I would highly recommend using the box versions.

The box version was a "high society" version. All our friends went to the Goodwill and bought older prom dresses, fake fur coats, fake jewelry .... for their costumes. It was a lot of fun!

Also, I would agree with a PP, we had 10 people for the required 8 characters. The 2 people who were the "extras" had parts that didn't integrate real well with the other characters.

Have fun!

 

[shellybaxter]

I've hosted many murder dinners. We like to use Murder al carte - we limit the invitees to the number of active characters - usually 6 to 8. I hire someone to finish cooking and serve the dinner because I like to play. Its way fun. I create the decorations and menus. I set the table and do all the food prep, baking etc. I then have someone come in and finish the food and serve the course on a schedule. We supply lots of alcohal and the party usually continues after the murder is solved for general chit chat and fun

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We used to do those all the time in high school, everybody in our group taking turns to host it. They were the ones in the box. It was a lot of fun. However, I would not want to do it now.