Host a Halloween Murder Mystery Dinner Party. Unravel clues, solve the mystery, and enjoy eerie festivities that are to die for!
Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Growing up my mom always made a big deal about Halloween and I have lots of fond memories of the fun-themed parties she would host to celebrate our favorite time of the year.
Over the years I have planned lots of fun kid-friendly Halloween parties, like our Mummy and Me Halloween Soiree or the Mad Scientist Halloween Party, but I’ve always wanted to host a haunted evening of fun just for the adults. So this year I decided to host a mysterious and suspense-filled evening with a Murder Mystery Dinner Party.
How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party
A little party never killed anyone…or did it?!? A Murder Mystery party is a great way to engage and entertain guests. And we have you covered with lots of great bone-chilling ideas, spooky Halloween decorations, and to-die-for cuisine.
Setting the Scene
Set the scene for your party with candlelit rooms, mysterious apothecary jars, murder weapons, and a few interesting and bony guests.
I wanted to carry out the theme of our dinner party in each room of the house and create simple vignettes with an array of deadly props. Knives could be seen poking out of Gothic flower arrangements, bottles of poison could be spotted in the dining room and guests couldn’t miss the rope hanging from the bony fingers of a guilty skeleton.
Dinner and Drama
The mystery starts as soon as guests arrive and whispers of dark accusations begin as guests sip on dark and stormy sangria. I set up a Pick Your Poison bar cart where guests could help themselves, or have our friendly, but slightly dead wait staff assist.
Create a few signature drinks like a Red Devil Martini rimmed with Demon Dust and include a variety of Halloween-themed wines.
Murder Mystery Dinner Party Food
Typically at our parties, everyone tends to gather in the kitchen and stand around our large island where all the food is. However, because the nature of this party is intended to get guests mixing and mingling I set out appetizers in the various rooms of the house that they would be visiting to find out whodunnit.
In the living room, guests found shrunken head sliders (meatball sliders) and in the study, there were Devils on Horseback (bacon & shrimp skewers) and in the kitchen, guests could dig into graveyard dip.
Eventually, the mystery takes guests to the dining room where they find an eerie dinner party waiting. The mood is set with dark and mysterious dinnerware and chalkboard tombstones make it easy for guest to find their seat. 
I created a simple centerpiece with lots of pumpkins, deadly flower arrangements, a few creepy critters, and items and clues to help solve the mystery. Candelabras held flickering candles and dinner was enjoyed by candlelight.
The dinner menu included Decomposed Salad served with mummy servers, Eyeball Soup, Mystery Chicken, and Death by Chocolate Brownies.
To end the evening guests could fill treat bags with goodies from the spooky gauze-covered Apothecary Bar. Here they found Deadly Edibles (cookies) in the Spellbook treat jar, killer red velvet cupcakes, with candy knife cupcake toppers, and a black skull apothecary jar filled with monster munch.
How to Play Murder Mystery Game
Clue was one of my favorite games growing up and my kids recently discovered it at grandma’s house and we’ve been playing it together as a family. I was inspired by the suspense of solving the case and decided to bring the classic board game to life for our Murder Mystery Dinner Party.
Crafting the Characters
Invite your guests to take on unique roles as part of the fictitious murder mystery for the evening. Provide character descriptions and backgrounds so everyone can come prepared.
The Plot Thickens
We played a living version of the game with each guest acting as one of the characters and my house serving as the mansion. Once all the guests had arrived they were dealt cards from the Clue game and the 3 cards were placed in the confidential file and the mystery began.
I clipped the mystery sheets to clipboards and guests could roam from room to room trying to figure out who did it. This was fun because it encouraged everyone to mix and mingle and unlike other murder mystery parties, it wasn’t labor-intensive or complicated to set up.
Solving the Mystery
As the night progresses, clues should be revealed, and suspicions will rise. Encourage guests to share their theories and work together to solve the mystery. Finally, reveal the culprit, rewarding the best detectives with a fun prize.
After the mystery was solved we had fun posing in the “Murder Booth” with our weapon of choice and our favorite bony guest.
It was such a fun evening and our Murder Mystery Dinner Party was a big hit. This Halloween entertain your friends and plan your own Murder Mystery Dinner Party for a mysterious evening of drinks, food, and fun. This is truly a party guests will be dying to come to!
For more great ideas for Halloween be sure to check out these posts from amazing bloggers, you’ll find everything from porch decor, kid-friendly parties, desserts, and more!
Front Porch Decor Capturing Joy,
Halloween Mantel Finding Silver Pennies
Halloween Desserts The Celebration Shoppe
Kids Halloween Party + Snacks Make Life Lovely
Halloween Drink Recipes Baked by Joanna
Halloween Dining Lauren McBride
Front Porch Decor House of Five
Front Porch Decor Fry Sauce and Grits
I want to come to your next halloween party! This looks like so much fun, from that large skeleton, to the eyeball in the soup, to the photo booth!
Thank you Kristen, the skeletons are my favorite part and everyone at the party loved them too!
Oh my girl! Totally creepy! That eyeball drink gave me the shivers. 😉 Pinning!
Thank you Kim, those eyeball ice cubes are the best and totally creepy! 😉
Love it! This looks like so much fun! We have always wanted to have a mystery party and what better time than Halloween!
Thank you Pamela, I had always wanted to do one too and it was so much fun, definitely a great idea for a party!
I love everything about this! Pinned!
Thank you Jennifer, and thanks for pinning it too!
So cool and spooky!
Thank you, I’m all about spooky Halloween decor this year!
This is amazeballs! Love all of the details, girl you went all out!
Thank you Courtney, it was such a fun party to put together!
What a fun dinner party! x
Thank you Danielle!
omgosh this is absolutely fantastic!!! i’ve wanted to do one of these for a long time now & you’ve totally inspired me. you went over & beyond. love all of it from the menu to the decor to so many amazing details. so fun! xo- maryjo
https://maryjomaterazo.com
Thank you so much MaryJo, we love hearing that we’ve inspired others to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary celebrations! You should definitely give this fun party theme a try, it was so much fun!
What fun and fabulous decor.
Thank you Carol, it’s always fun decorating for Halloween!
What a fun idea and your dining room looks fantastic! I love the black and white decor. Looks just like what I imagine the Clue mansion looked like!
Never in a million years could I pull off something this fantastic in my own house! But I think it is a fabulous idea for sure. Kudos to you for hosting such a wonderful and inspirational event!
Thanks Dori! Entertaining friends is one of my passions, I think I got it from my mom who was a fabulous hostess and always went all out for Halloween. 🙂
Everything looks faaaabulous!!!! I really want those skeleton serving utensils!
Thanks Keisha, aren’t those fabulous! World Market has some great Halloween stuff this year.
It looks like this party would be so fun to attend. What was your favorite in preparing for your party? The food? the crafts? All very cool.
Thanks Deedra, it was a super fun party to put together. I think I’d have to say my favorite part was preparing the menu, I love coming up with creepy, fun Halloween themed food!
Absolutely fantastic! From the décor to the food to the entertainment, you haven’t missed a thing! And it’s all over the top! Pinned, pinned and more pinning! 🙂
Lori, you are too sweet! Thank you for the sweet comment and for pinning our Halloween party. Hope it inspires you to throw something fun together this Halloween!
Your decorating skills are mad, mad I tell you. What a great job you did, can’t wait to see your Christmas decor lol! It sounds like a great evening for all involved, and I love Clue too! How cool.
Oh you are too sweet Nikki! Is it crazy that I’ve already started working on Christmas decor! 😉
Wow Mariah, you go all out to put on a fabulous Halloween party for your guests. Everything from the decor, the food, the theme is absolutely fabulous! Your party will be pinned to our DIY Sunday Showcase Party Talent Board this weekend!
Thanks for pinning and featuring our party, we love linking up and sharing our projects at your party so it’s always a treat to see them featured! 🙂
what an amazing Halloween party idea for adults! Love this – pinned!
stop by and chat with me 🙂 http://storybookapothecary.com
All I can say is WOW! This is amazing. Your attention to detail is spectacular. Just the initial picture spooked me! Very well thought out and put together!
Thank you so much Crystal, we really appreciate the sweet comment!
What an awesome Halloween tablescape with all those goodies and decorations! Very cool!
Thanks Kim, we love Halloween so it’s always fun to throw a party this time of year!
LOVE this! Definitely on my to do list to host a party like this. Your decorations are wonderfully themed. Hmm, I think I need to hit up the clearance sales after Halloween and host one of these next year.
Thanks Kristy! That’s a great idea to hit up the clearance sales after Halloween, I think I need to do that do and add a few skeletons to my party decor next year! 😉
I LOVE murder mystery parties and throw them often, but I have never thrown one as well decorated as this. LOVE IT. I just pinned to my party board for future inspiration.
Thanks Cailly, we love throwing fun and interactive parties. I can’t wait to check out your party board, I’m sure you have lots of great ideas!
Everything is Amazing!!! You just inspired me to throw a Halloween Party!!! Thank you!!
We love inspiring others, especially when it comes to celebrations! Thanks for stopping by Debbie!
Love this! It is the coolest Halloween display I have seen yet this year.
Thanks Pamela, you are too sweet but we love hearing that you like it!
This looks absolutely amazing! Pinned and tweeted. You always bring the most amazing creations to our party. Thank you! I hope to see you again, this Monday at 7 pm. It wouldn’t be a party without you! Lou Lou Girls
I’m just stopping by to let you know that we will be featuring your murder mystery party at our party tonight at 7 pm! Woo Hoo! Pinned and tweeted. We appreciate you bringing such amazing things to our party. I hope to see you tonight. Lou Lou Girls
Kimberly you are just too sweet, thanks for sharing our party!
Mariah, this is an AWESOME post…I love it!!! Found it at the Lou Lou Girls party, and hope you’ll come share it at the Home Matters Party this Friday! I have always been a huge fan of Clue and Halloween, and I can’t wait to give this party a spin of my own. 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai / Home Matters Linky Party
Thanks so much Lorelai, we love that you stopped by from one of our favorite parties to link up to and we can’t wait to check out all the ideas and inspiration at your party too! 🙂
So fun! Where did you find the miniature knife on top of the cupcake?
Thanks Cindy! They are candy cupcake toppers from Wilton, I’ve linked to them in them in the post so you can easily purchase them. Or you can check your local craft store around Halloween, they usually carry them.
I thought it was interesting that you brought up playing Clue and wanting to bring that to life with a Murder Mystery Party. I never thought about it like that before. It would be so fun to play that kind of game in real life, even though it’s been so long since I’ve played the board game.
Thanks Gerty, it was one of my favorite games as a kid and it was super fun to incorporate it into our Halloween party.
Oh my gosh, this looks fabulously fun! How many people would you suggest would be a good number to play? Thanks 🙂
I would keep it under 12-10 people. For this particular party, we had 10 people and everything was perfect.
I love this! Can I ask where did you get your salad spoons? They look great, just like everything else. Thank you for inspiration
Hi Paulina, those were from World Market a few years ago. However, I did find something similar on Amazon that you may be able to use instead, https://amzn.to/3pSfHsU.
You have inspired me to have a murder mystery party. However, I have 17 people that would be attending. Any ideas how to incorporate more people? Did you use the original Clue game for inspiration I have not played the board game not sure how to incorporate the board game to real life. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you
Hi Kristin, Yes I used the actual CLue game for inspiration for this party as we only had 8 guests for our dinner party. You could have guests partner up and work together, for example you could have Team Scarlett, Team Green, ect. However, if you have that many guests you may want to do a slightly different version and use a Murder Mystery Kit, we like this company as they have a ton of options https://mastersofmystery.com/collections/halloween-murder-mystery-games. Good Luck and have fun, and don’t forget to share pictures with us of how your party turns out!