About Murder Mystery Parties

Everybody fantasizes about committing murder at some point in their lives, just like everybody dreams of solving a murder. For most people, mercifully, the former usually remains an unfulfilled wish. It is also true that most people never get the chance to solve a murder, including, unfortunately, many detectives. The murder mystery party gives people a perfect, and perfectly legal, way to live out these dreams.

Function

A murder mystery party can be an event that will never be forgotten. These parties offer the opportunity for people to step out of themselves and toss on the cloak of a fictional character that may just be enough to unleash their own natural inhibitions even when it is not Halloween. The real function of a murder mystery party is to place a barrier between the world outside and the carefully constructed reality inside so that everybody, including the unfortunate victim, can have the fun while pretending to be someone else entirely.

Types

Murder mystery parties come in two types. If you just want to have some fun with a few friends without getting too complicated or sophisticated, you can actually buy a board game. These board games vary in the complexity of how they are played. The basic idea behind them is that each person plays a different character and tries to solve a murder in which some of the clues have been supplied. At the other end of the spectrum are the murder mystery parties that are arranged by a company specializing in these kinds of parties and which are notable for requiring the attendees to dress in costume. Some of the more elaborate parties may even cover several locations.

Features

The features of the more sophisticated type of murder mystery party typically include what might best be termed a "mixer." Usually the festivities begin in a party atmosphere during which time the guests get to mingle as they are informed of the specifics of the murder, such as the theme, what the back story is. In some cases, actors may be hired to play certain roles, usually the detective who is investigating the case. Once the partygoers learn the details of the case, the "murder" takes place and events unfold with as little script as possible, although of course there must be a backbone to the exposition that needs to be adhered to.

Time Frame

The great thing about the open-ended potential for a murder mystery party is that it can last as long it takes. There are even some murder mystery weekends that are thrown at a hotel, mansion or bed & breakfast that are intended to last two to three days. In most cases, however, a murder mystery party only lasts as long as any other type of party. The typical murder mystery lasts about two to six hours. A boxed version that requires only a handful of participants typically lasts around an hour or two.

Identification

Since the party atmosphere is the usual manner in which a murder mystery party is thrown, the bulk of the themes and back stories revolve around a gathering of people. This makes the average mystery party seem like something from an Agatha Christie novel in which all of the suspects are gathered together at the end. In reality, the themes available are almost infinite. There are murder mystery parties with an old west theme, a Renaissance theme or with a 1940s film noir atmosphere. In addition, there are murder mysteries to tie in with Christmas, New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day. There are even some murder mysteries that take place in a futuristic setting.

Misconceptions

The biggest misconception about murder mystery parties is that they are all about solving the murder. If that were the only goal of a murder mystery party, most of them probably wouldn't last very long, much less two or three days. The best murder mystery parties require guests to solve a number of smaller mysteries or discover a trail of clues. For this reason, it is not enough most of the time just to make a guess about the identity of the killer; you must also prove how the murder was committed and provide the correct motivation for the murder.

Warning

Murder mystery parties can be intense. Because people are playing a role rather than themselves and responding to their friends as the character they are playing, there is a tendency among some to become rather more aggressive than they might otherwise be. It can become easy to hurt someone's feelings by speaking in a tone you shouldn't be using or simply saying something not very tactful. In addition, the dogged pursuit to be the one who solves the murder can result in aggressive behavior that might hurt somebody or break one of the props. Just remember it's all a game and all in good fun.

Resources

• Get murder mystery games at Host-A-Murder.com.