Halloween murder mystery party: a free printable game

October 31st, 1926, in a manor house in Normandy, France. Aurélien Ravenel, a collector obsessed with the occult, throws his yearly masked Halloween ball. At dinner he makes a promise: "At midnight, the dead will speak. And once they have spoken, I will have something to tell you myself."

At midnight, during the séance, he drinks the spirits' cup alone. At five past midnight, the lights go out. When they come back on, Aurélien is dead, his head resting on the séance table. Fog has swallowed the road and the police won't come before dawn: the killer is one of the guests — and everyone is still wearing a mask.

The Halloween setting isn't just decoration: the costumes drive the game. Two guests came dressed as plague doctors, and behind a beaked mask, who can tell which one was seen slipping into the tower? The solution itself is entirely rational — no ghost killed Aurélien Ravenel.

Madame Irma Solovieff, the medium: hired to lead the séance, she prepared the fatal cup. Her secret: she has never spoken to the dead, and Aurélien wrote the midnight message himself.

Gaspard Ravenel, the heir: son of the first wife, dressed as a plague doctor. Drowning in debt, he was somewhere else at the key moment — but he can't say where without ruining himself.

Éléonore Ravenel, the widow: the second wife, whose trunk is already packed in the front hall. She knows what Aurélien found in the attic.

Doctor Armand Lestrade: the family doctor for twenty-five years, also dressed as a plague doctor, with a silver-topped cane. He declared "heart attack" before he even took a pulse.

Basile Coste, the gardener: threatened with eviction that very day, he knows every plant on the grounds — and which ones kill.

Victoire Marchal, the antiques dealer: she sold Aurélien half of his tower, and tonight she was making a shady deal in the orangery.

Optional characters for the 7th and 8th guest: Ophélie Darcourt, the gothic novelist (a lawsuit was coming her way), and Oscar Ravenel, the prankster nephew (he may know something about that blackout). No decisive clue depends on them: with 6 players, leave them out — the host's sheet explains how to recover what they knew.

For the host only: show the solution

The killer is Doctor Armand Lestrade. Twenty years ago, he killed Aurélien's first wife, Mathilde, by mistake with a dose of digitalis ten times too strong, and wrote "heart failure". Aurélien found the prescription in the attic and meant to expose him at midnight, right after "Mathilde's" message recited by the medium: "The one who signed away my last sleep is among you."

At 9 pm, Lestrade picked aconite (monkshood) from a flower bed on the grounds. At 11:40 pm, taking advantage of the tower left open and of a costume identical to Gaspard's, he stirred the chopped leaves into the cup Aurélien was to drink alone. The blackout at 12:05 am was just a prank, unrelated to the murder.

The clues that give him away: the silver-topped cane of the plague doctor the medium saw (Gaspard has none), the antiques dealer who was with Gaspard at 11:40 pm, the cut aconite stems the gardener noticed, the prescription signed "Dr A. Lestrade" the widow knows about, and that far-too-quick heart attack diagnosis.

Decor: keep the lighting low. Candles (or LED candles), carved pumpkins at the door, a small table draped in black for the midnight séance, and a clearly visible "spirits' cup" — any stemmed glass will do. If you have a room with a door that closes, make it the tower: that's where the body is found.

Costumes, character by character: turban and shawl for the medium; two plague doctor costumes (black coat and beaked mask, easy to find in October) for Gaspard and the doctor, with a cane for the doctor only; black dress and veil for the widow; apron and gravedigger's spade for the gardener; Columbine with a white mask and tricorn for the antiques dealer; a White Lady for the novelist; a skeleton for the prankster nephew.

Menu: spiced mulled wine or cider served in the "cup" as a welcome drink (alcohol-free for anyone who prefers), pumpkin soup, a wild mushroom tart, and tombstone cupcakes for dessert. A playlist of organ music, 1920s jazz and falling rain does the rest.

The evening runs in three acts: at 8 pm, masked guests arrive and the host reads the opening aloud; cross-examination over dinner (1 to 1.5 hours); at midnight — or whenever you decide — accusations, a vote and the reveal. Announce the reveal time from the start.

The kit turns this scenario into something you can play: one sheet per guest, for their eyes only — who they are, their secret, what they know about the others, their goals, what to say if accused — plus the opening to read aloud and the host's sheet (solution, clues to plant, timeline, adjustments for 6 or 7 players). Optional characters are flagged on their sheet.

Print it, cut it up, and hand the sheets out a few days before the party. The PDF is free, no sign-up needed.

Open the printable Halloween kit

A paper murder mystery party needs at least six players and a host. With fewer people, play the mystery online: the AI plays every suspect at the masked ball, the killer and the clues are locked in from the start, and you run the interrogations yourself — solo, or as a pair from two phones.

Same setting, different case: even if you've read the kit's solution, the killer online isn't the same. Free, no sign-up.

• Online murder mystery game: free, solo or for two
• Detective mystery game: a new case every day