A Real Look at Planing a Murder Mystery Party (From Someone Who Just Did It)

Hello family! It’s Maria, the one behind all things social media at MysteryWild.

This Halloween I finally hosted my first murder mystery party, and trust me… I learned a lot in one day. Now that I’ve gone through the whole hosting experience, I wanted to share it all and give you the real behind the scenes and tips I wish I had when planning a murder mystery for the first time. 

So let me tell you a bit of backstory: on the Thursday of Halloweekend, I decided to host the first party of the weekend to start everything off on the right foot, full-on mystery night included.

I had seen everywhere that murder mystery parties were trending this year,  even websites like this Halloween party article have been talking about how popular they’ve become.

#1 DO NOT LEAVE IT ALL for the last day.

Big mistake I made. I took the whole day to plan the murder mystery party and still, it wasn’t enough. I felt like everything was a bit rushed. I woke up early and headed to Target, the dollar store, and Party City to start buying decorations and food for the night.

Then in the afternoon I had to work, and I started printing everything out. It actually takes a while to cut, assign envelopes, write out the names, and make sure all the information is in the correct envelope. So I would definitely do this days before and separate the tasks for the day of the party.

#2 Read the instructions.

I know it sounds cliché and typical, but honestly taking a real read through the host’s guide made me feel so much more comfortable about how easy it actually is to host and play.

For me at least, I wasn’t totally sure how things worked, how the evidence and objectives were going to play out, or what the flow of the night would be. But once I read through it, planning a murder mystery suddenly felt easy and clear.

If it’s your first murder mystery party, reading the guide closely will save you.

#3 Have a plan for the night (just a loose one!)

Something I didn’t think about at all was the actual flow of the night. Not a strict schedule, but just knowing roughly what happens when; like when people arrive, when the intro starts, when clues get handed out, and when everyone should mingle.

You don’t need a full plan, but even a simple mental outline makes planning a murder mystery feel way less stressful. Once I understood the flow, the whole murder mystery party made way more sense and felt smoother. If you want more inspiration, check out our other mystery party blogs here.

#4 AND FINALLY: RELAX.

Okay… as a host, I tend to stress out. And I did. I was worried things wouldn’t go perfectly, or that people wouldn’t have fun, or that I missed something.

But honestly? Relax.
This is the biggest thing I learned.

Not everything will go exactly as planned, and that’s fine. What matters is that you have fun and so do the people you invited. Don’t be too strict with the rules. Be flexible. Let the night take you wherever it wants.

At the end of the day, a murder mystery party is supposed to be fun, messy, chaotic, and full of surprises.

I hope this helps, and hopefully it’s your turn to be the host next! If you’re still picking your story, check out all our Murder Mystery Party Games.

If you have any questions or want advice while you’re planning your own murder mystery party, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Till next time…