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Just A Little Light Hearted Murder
This week I attended my first Murder Mystery party, and it was… unsettling.
People enjoy these and I’m not trying to pass judgment on those who enjoy the concept, but personally, the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.
If you’re not familiar with this kind of party, here is how it goes: Everyone gets an invitation to a party, and with it, an identity (or part) they are expected to play. At the party, guests are given a series of secret directions that reveal their character and his or her motivations within the story. Eventually, someone is “murdered” and the remaining participants follow clues to determine which of them is the killer.
Sound fun? I suppose it could be.
I should mention here that I am not puritanical in my entertainment choices. My kids and I played the murder mystery board game CLUE the other day, and I enjoyed the movie. I read Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown mysteries, and I’ve always been fascinated by true-crime books and television shows, such as Helter Skelter, Journey into Darkness, and Forensic Files.
So I probably should have enjoyed the chance to play detective and put some of that macabre knowledge to good use. But that’s not what happened. Instead, I found myself walking around playing a character and saying things I would never say in real life, sometimes to people I was socializing with for the first time.
The planners refrained from staging a gruesome murder scene, but instead handed out an evidence sheet and expected everyone to draw a conclusion based largely on motive.
There was a lot of laughter, and some people got really into it. I played my part well and smiled and wasn’t totally miserable when my wife and I went home, but something happened as we were making our way to the door, and it’s bothered me ever since.
The “victim” was a pompous celebrity that everyone had motivations to hate. As such, the other characters spent most of the party ridiculing her and gossiping about her. As my wife and I were about to leave, I smiled at the woman (I hardly knew her) and said, “Sorry I was mean to you today.”
“Oh, that was nothing,” she said. “You should have heard some of the things the others were saying.”
Believe me, I was mean to her. And I didn’t like the identity I’d adopted in order to convey that. I can only imagine how much-contrived vitriol she absorbed from the rest of the party guests when she could have enjoyed a couple of hours of fellowship instead.
It was a game. Okay. But it wasn’t a very good one.
My wife and I once caught our kids playing an outdoor hide-and-seek style game called Ghosts in the Graveyard. When we inquired, they explained the roles. And we told them, “How about we change it a little? Let’s not make light of disturbing stuff.”
I wondered what my kids might say if they knew what we grown-ups were playing yesterday. Or, what I would have told them if I’d caught them playing murder mystery in the rec room some afternoon, and ridiculing one of their peers, and calling it fun.
My guess is they might have encouraged us to find a better game, one that doesn’t encourage us to embrace the things we would otherwise abhor. Because we can be more creative than that.
Published in General
I’ve RPed a lot of different characters, although I’d imagine playing a role that you didn’t read for or select is rough. I’ve RPed naive kids, hardened veterans, a friendly ball of goo, and other things I am not, but I choose the character I portray.
I’ve written the PoV of war criminals and disturbed individuals, and I can draw on that part of me that is kept from the public.
By far the most dangerous killer is the killer who has no discernible motive. He kills because he can. This is hard to comprehend, but most people are not expecting a killer. You could deal a fatal wound before they have time to react. Someone could do that to you. Someone could take advantage of the trust in social settings and kill you. Most likely they won’t, but they could. When you can’t read people easily, you start to wonder…
As far as disposal of evidence, I would not claim any knowledge, and would never need such knowledge of course. I do know many ways of destroying biological material. Enzyme cleaners and strong caustics like TSP or quicklime are great for cleaning up biological material without a residue. There are a number of incineration / chemical destruction methods useful for eliminating stuff you really want gone. Piranha solution is aptly named, but the real standard is thermite. Thermite is a fairly effective source of molten iron temperatures. What’s left can be concreted for disposal.
Destroying the biological evidence matters, but usually the destruction of said material leaves a trace as well that creates circumstantial evidence, and confirms a suspect. I remember watching once about a murderer who effectively disposed of the body (they never found it) but used detergents, bleach, and paint to cover the blood splatters. The problem was, she had strange patterns of paint all over her cellar, and a receipt for a chainsaw. That led to a multi-department scouring of her towns landfill, where eventually they found an old sweater of her’s with a tiny amount of blood (and the victims DNA) on it.
While the kids game sounds a little strange, I think kids are way more robust than we credit them for… I think (to certain degree) making light of disturbing things is perfectly healthy way to deal with disturbing things.
Kids are a little ghoulish and morbid by nature.
I think he likes that handsome young dude that plays him as a young man. With all that murder in a small town, why would anyone want to live there?
By the way, I found the hotel I mentioned. The “Mad Doctor” was Francis Willis and the estate has become “Raven Hall” in Yorkshire.
https://www.ravenhall.co.uk/
Raven Hall is more than a hotel; with 51 bedrooms, .3 suites and 8 lodges, a nine-hole cliff-side links golf course, tennis courts, games room and heated indoor swimming pool among our list of facilities. We also offer stunning Whitby weddings in our choice of Banqueting Suites.
I see no mention of the history in web site. As to the golf course, I was there in March and there was horizontal snow blowing across it.
I bet that affected your score.