Hemlock Parlor
Halloween edition · 8 to 12 players
A Halloween murder mystery for a costume party.
A horror star's costume party, a four-minute blackout and a secret due at midnight. Print it and host it in two hours.
The mystery
The Unmasking at Ravenscroft Hall
Every Halloween, Silas Ravenscroft, star of a dozen 1970s horror films, throws a costume party at Ravenscroft Hall. At 10:15 Silas promises that at midnight, when everyone unmasks, Silas will unmask "one more thing" too. At 10:30 every light in the house goes out. When they come back, Silas is dead in the study. The storm has flooded the road, and nobody leaves before morning.
- Lenore RavenscroftSilas's only child, who runs the fan conventionWear: a banshee's gray rags
- Desmond RavenscroftSilas's nephew, an actor waiting for a breakWear: a vampire's velvet cape
- Ingrid ValeSilas's agent for thirty yearsWear: a witch's hat and cloak
- Corvin BlackwoodThe makeup artist on all of Silas's filmsWear: a plague doctor's beak
- Mabel FinchThe housekeeper, who knows the back stairsWear: a skeleton-print apron
- Hugo StroudThe groundskeeper who builds the displaysWear: a scarecrow's flannel and straw
- Delphine MoreauThe star of the remake of Silas's famous filmWear: a zombie bride's gown
- Edgar PikeSilas's lawyer since 1975Wear: a mummy's bandages
Plus four optional roles for parties of 9 to 12: a fortune teller, the neighbor from across the woods, a horror podcaster and the DJ. Every role is a costume, so your guests come dressed for Halloween anyway.
What's in the kit
- One 24-page PDF, US Letter, to print at home in color or black and white
- A host plan: casting for 8 to 12, three rounds, and when to put out each clue
- The scenes to read aloud, and twelve invitations with costume ideas
- Twelve character sheets: eight core roles and four optional ones
- Five clue cards, name tags, accusation slips and a fold-over solution
- A fair puzzle: the clues leave exactly one culprit with eight players or twelve
It is a printable file, not a boxed game: nothing is mailed. It is a complete mystery of its own, longer than the free 6-player game, and you don't need to have played that one.
Halloween edition
Not on sale yet. The kit is written and checked, and its checkout will open on this page.
Plan your invitations nowPick the date, add your guests and give each one a character and a costume to plan. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Questions hosts ask
How do I invite my friends?
Use our invitation maker: type your guests' names and the party details, and it gives each guest a character, a costume idea and a message you can copy, share or print. Send them a week or two ahead so everyone has time to find a costume.
What if fewer than eight people can come?
The game needs its eight core roles, so it suits a party of eight to twelve. For six, try our free mystery.
Is it scary? Is it all right for teens?
It is spooky, not gory: a costume party, a blackout and a puzzle about who was where. It is written for adults and teens.
Who wrote it?
Every mystery is checked before we sell it: a test confirms the clue cards leave only one possible culprit, with eight players or twelve, and that no clue contradicts another. The story was written with AI.
Hosting in December instead? See the Christmas edition.