Parties with a Twist of Murder!
Parties with a Twist of Murder!
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Horror Murder Mystery Party Decorations

94 Ideas to Inspire You

Decorations from our horror murder mystery test parties and also from our post-party photos. Left = skull table centerpiece with a skeleton and gravestone decoration with the words
Decorations from our horror and Halloween murder mystery test parties and also post party photos. Left = Boo ghost mirror. Center= Horror Castle entrance behind the dinner table. Right =. Skeletons and a gravestone decoration with the words

Hosting a Halloween or Horror Murder Mystery - Other Helpful Ideas

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Last Updated on July 19th, 2024

94 ideas to add an extra spooky or chilling touch to your horror murder mystery party. Many photos were taken from our test parties for our Murder at Horror Castle game.

Many ideas could also be used for a Halloween party or for games run during the Spooky Season. See our murder mysteries to run over Halloween.

A: Dark Tablescape and Lighting

Horror party dinner table with lights down low (at night) and during daylight
Horror party dinner table. Left = lights down low at night with creepy coffin lights glowing. Right = during daylight hours.

1 Use minimal spooky lighting to greet guests as they first enter the room. In the photos above, the left-hand photo shows how our dining room looked as guests first entered. The right-hand photo shows the same room during daylight hours. Optionally also use spooky music to add to the setting.

2 Choose a dark tablescape. Mix and match colors and textures and layer colors up - for example, a black tablecloth with dark purple creepy cloth used as a table runner, black wall hangings with red or purple foil curtains in front of them, or a dark red tablecloth with a black velvet table runner. 

3 Cover old table mats and coasters with tissue paper. I used Halloween colors (green, orange and purple) to provide a contrast to the dark tablecloth. However, red, grey or black tissue paper would also work. Optionally cover other items such as cake stands or vases with the same color tissue paper. Creepy cloth can enable you to add a splash of color with this colored tissue paper but then mute this color.

B: Classic Horror Party Decorations: Skulls, Skeletons and Gravestones

B1: Creative Gravestone Decorations

Because of their flat shape, the flat surface of mock gravestones is an ideal surface for displaying information for your party. Be creative and have fun.

4 Create a "gravestone bar area" for your party. Create a gravestone shape out of cardboard and cover it with white cloth. Optionally also create a gravestone base out of cardboard. Then add a catchy slogan (for example, "Can't Hold a Drink") in black letters to the gravestone. Make the black letters in a horror font. Use either a black marker pen or else cut the letters out of black card or paper. (In the photo below, I used my own approximation of the Helloghost font as it has a bone shape at the end of many letters.)

Skeletons, skulls and a gravestone for horror party decor
Horror party decorations - bar area with a "Can't Hold My Drink" gravestone; skeletons and skulls. Drink bottles have spooky labels from the game's decoration pack.

Notes: in the photo above, I added a set of red fairy lights inside the miniature skeleton to give a spooky effect. I also wrapped miniature LED balloon lights inside orange tissue paper and put these into the eye sockets of the large skeleton; I wrapped other miniature balloon lights in purple tissue paper and put these in the eye sockets of the skulls. (I found that orange tissue paper gave a brighter glow than purple tissue paper.) I reused the miniature cauldrons that I had previously used in my Halloween murder mystery party decorations and again added miniature LED balloon lights wrapped in colored tissue paper to add an eerie glow. The tattered "rags" that the skeleton wears were those worn by one of my sons for a pirate costume in our pirate mystery test party. The snakes were toy snakes that I had quickly spray painted with black paint in order to tie them in with the black color scheme.

5 Alternative bar decorations: use your gravestone as a drinks' menu. Give your drink's suitable horror-based names such as "Vampire's Kiss", "Bats' Blood", "Something Wicked", "Zombie Slime" or "Witches' Brew". Optionally, give the price next to each drink in a "horror" currency - for example, drawings of skulls or bones instead of dollar or pound signs. 

Note: remember to cover drink bottles with the spooky labels that come with the decoration packs of both our horror and Halloween murder mystery games. 

6 Gravestone menu: create a miniature cardboard gravestone and use this as a menu for your table.

7 Gravestone place settings: create miniature gravestones out of cardboard. Add the name of each character onto the gravestone and use them as place settings.

Horror Power Party Gravestone
Horror Power Party gravestone with skull draped in creepy cloth

8 Make a cardboard gravestone the central feature on your sideboard. In our horror murder mystery (Murder at Horror Castle), there is an outlawed Horror Power Party. For our test party, I therefore created a cardboard gravestone and wrote the words "Horror Power Party" on this in black felt-tip and then highlighted the outline of the gravestone in the same black felt-tip. I also added a skull mask to the top of the gravestone. I then put a skull atop a glass vase and covered the skull and vase in white creepy cloth for an extra creepy effect.

9 Create a mock "graveyard" in front of your party entrance with some board or cardboard tombstones and crosses; age the tombstones with dirt smears and green tea stains for mould; maybe even have a doll's hand and arm climbing out of the soil.

10 For an extra chilling effect, put the names of the game's characters on the gravestones.

B2: Skeleton Party "Guests"

Skeleton at the dinner table
Skeleton at the dinner table: I dressed my skeleton in a purple wig, black velvet evening dress and black costume necklace.
The skull sits atop a spray-painted glass vase with red netting and red fairy lights inside the vase.
Creepy cloth mutes the red colors.

11 Have a skeleton sitting at a spare place at the table. Give your skeleton personality with Halloween glasses, a top hat, an evening dress, a feather boa, a witch's hat, tattered rags or a dark velvet outfit as you wish. Optionally have the skeleton sitting at one of your guest's places with their place card at the table setting. In the photo above, I dressed my skeleton in a black evening gown and black costume jewellery. I then added a purple wig for a pop of color.

Note: had I taken this photo again, I would have added "lights" into the eyes of the skeleton and skull by covering LED balloon lights in tissue paper. (See the photo in B1 above.)

12 Decorate the skeleton with a fantasy/medieval prince's outfit.  In our Murder at Horror Castle game, the murder victim is Prince Merlyn, a Prince of the Witch Kingdom, and so you could even have a sign saying "Merlyn's throne". For example, give your skeleton a velvet cape and a crown. (Make a simple paper crown out of card or paper and add on different horror shapes or decorations: draw on runes or ghosts, cut out spooky shapes out of contrasting paper and stick these on, or add Halloween sweets instead of jewels.)

B3: Skull Table Centerpieces

13 Have a vase as your centerpiece; top this with a skull instead of flowers. Place red fairy lights inside the vase and then add creepy cloth to soften the effect and add a creepy glow.

Note: in the photo in B2 above, I created a spooky vase for my Halloween party décor by spray-painting around ghost paper cutouts. I then reused this as a table centerpiece by adding a red netting base for the skull to sit on and red netting inside the vase. (The red netting was taken from an underskirt from a previous fancy dress costume.) I then added some creepy cloth to soften the effect. I used fake spiders, snakes, and mice etc to decorate round the centerpiece. A Day of the Dead table runner gives additional texture.

Skull table centerpiece

14 Alternatively, stick with a very simple skull and vase effect. The above photo is taken from an early version of my Horror Castle decorations. I put a skull atop a black vase and simply added creepy cloth and devil's horns to create an easy yet effective table centerpiece. (Note how the white creepy cloth forms an effective table runner against the black tablecloth.)

Horror party decorations: skeleton and vase as a table centerpiece
Horror party decorations: skeleton and vase as a table centerpiece.
Vase is a normal glass vase covered in black tissue paper to fit with the theme.
The vase sits atop a cake stand that is again covered in black tissue paper.
Red netting from a costume underskirt forms a cloak for the skeleton.

15 As an alternative table centerpiece, have a miniature skeleton "escaping" from a vase. Give your skeleton some personality by adding dolls' clothes, a bow tie or a cape made out of a fabric oddment. If you don't have a black vase, then cover a vase in black tissue paper so it fits with your theme.

For my table decoration (see photo above), I covered a flowery cake stand in black tissue paper. I also covered a glass vase in black tissue paper. Then I added the red netting from a fancy dress underskirt I'd bought for a previous murder mystery game to add a touch of color to the black. I also used the same red netting to give my skeleton a cape. A black tissue paper pom-pom and some skeleton hands and fake spiders and mice completed the centerpiece.

16 Use skeleton hands, fake spiders, fake mice etc to decorate the vase or the cake stand base.

17 Alternatively, use Halloween sweets to decorate. Have gummy eyeballs or jelly skulls decorating the cake stand base. Or have jelly worms or snakes crawling out of the skeleton eyes or ribs. (Note that these may stick to the skeleton afterward, depending on the heat of the room.)

18 Add miniature balloon lights into the eyes of skulls and skeletons for an extra creepy look. This can be especially effective after dark. Wrap an LED balloon light in colored tissue paper and wedge into the eye sockets of the skulls so that the light glows out through the tissue paper. (Follow any necessary safety precautions.) For the skulls on the sideboard (photo above), I used black tissue paper to fit with my color scheme. In the top photo (B1), however, I found that orange tissue paper worked better as it added a more noticeable eerie glow.

19 Another option for a table centerpiece is to have a skull mask with a toy snake coming out through the eye sockets. Add safety candles for an eerie glow. To make the mask look less artificial, cover with creepy cloth. Optionally add jelly worms or snakes. (Note that these may stick to the mask afterward, depending on the heat of the room.)

Skull table centerpiece
Skull table centerpiece: a skull mask is made more sinister by having a toy snake go through the eye sockets. Creepy cloth makes the mask seem less artificial.
I added a Victorian-style candle holder I had bought from a charity shop, some safety candles and some skeleton hands.

B4: Other Gravestone Decorating Ideas

Skeleton climbing out of a picture frame

20 Have a miniature skeleton "climbing out" of a picture frame. See my Halloween party Skeleton Decorations for more information.

21 Lay a skeleton down flat on the table. Have dried flowers or dark fruit arrangements appearing out of some cavities and have food spilling out of the rib cage. (Use all necessary food safety precautions!)

Tip: If you do not have a skeleton, you could achieve a similar effect by dissecting a doll. Have a doll's head with fake blood on the neck at one end of a board or plate and then have arms and legs (again with fake blood) sticking out from the board or plate. Alternatively, make your own body outline using a skull, an old shirt and an old pair of jeans.

22 Have a Day of the Dead table runner or place mats.

23 Buy skull or skeleton napkins, paper plates and cups from different party suppliers.  

24 Buy skeleton hand napkin holders from online suppliers such as Fopytu. Or buy skull napkin holders.

25 Buy skeleton or skull tablecloths; use these on your table or hang them from walls for an easy focal point. 

26 Use a skull or skeleton wall hanging / tapestry. Add Halloween-themed bunting or balloons.

27 Make your own skull or skeleton placemats. Print a spooky picture and place on top of each placemat. To make this look more unified, cover each placemat in black or grey tissue paper.

28 Cut skull shapes out of black cardboard. Cut out the eyes, mouth and (optionally) nose. Tape LED balloon lights behind the eyes and mouth. Tape colored tissue paper over the lights so that they glow in an eerie way. Make into a mobile, bunting, or fireplace ornaments.

C: Coffins, Spiders, and Cobwebs Party Decorations

Note: giant spiders feature in our "Murder at Horror Castle" mystery game. Therefore, theming your decorations around spiders and their webs could be appropriate for the game. However, it is also appropriate for many other Halloween parties.

C1: Creepy Coffin Ideas to Dress-Up Your Party

Easy coffin place setting

29 For an easy but chilling table setting idea, use the coffin place setting cards for each party guest. (These place-setting cards are included as part of both our Horror and Halloween murder mystery games.) Cut out the coffin shape and place on each guest's plate as a place card. (See photo above.)

Coffin place card settings with and without creepy cloth
Coffin place card settings for our Horror Castle mystery party.
Some mats had creepy cloth (top photo); other mats did not (bottom photo).
I added a miniature LED balloon light to give a creepy glow as guests entered.
The skeleton hands appear to be "escaping" from the coffins.

30 Alternatively, create miniature coffins out of paper, cover the paper with tissue paper, and use these as place card settings.  A template for this is included in each game pack for both our Horror Castle and Halloween mystery games; the template has each character's name on the coffin cover. 

31 For an extra sinister effect, place a small LED balloon light inside each coffin.

32 Have skeleton hands or spiders "escaping" from each coffin. Alternatively, use gummy worms or fake spiders.

33 Use each coffin place setting box as a party favor box - or as a place to store Halloween sweets or biscuits to go with the coffee. If you want to really give a chill to your guests, have a gingerbread man inside each coffin and pipe your guest's party character name on top. (Note: only do this if guests will find this funny.)

34 Alternatively, buy coffin-shaped party-favour boxes. Fill with suitable "dry" food such as Halloween sweets, popcorn, or witches' fingers made out of puff pastry with nails made from almonds or food coloring. Or buy coffin-shaped paper plates.

35 Buy coffin-shaped napkins or fold your napkins into a coffin shape.

36 For an extra spooky effect, consider having a coffin-shaped box as a table centerpiece. You may even use it to store starters, bread rolls or chocolates to go with the coffee. Have a selection of fake spiders, insects or skeletal hands coming out of the coffin. You could also use gummy worms or gummy snakes. Be warned, however, that - over time and in warm weather - these can stick to what they touch.

37 Optionally extend the coffin-shaped table centerpiece by having the top part of the coffin open and a black vase with dark flowers extending from the coffin. If you don't have a black vase, use a glass covered in black tissue paper and fill this with dried or fresh flowers. (Rabbit tail grass and pampas grass can both be bought dyed black and can then be reused for 1920s party decorations.)

38 Alternatively, extend the coffin-shaped table centerpiece upwards by having a mini skeleton sitting up within it. Give the skeleton personality - add a feather boa, a vampire cape, dark dolls' clothes, red horns or whatever else takes your fancy.

39 If you want to really freak your guests out, have a large open coffin-shaped box in a corner of the room. Optionally paint it in a dark colour, add a contrasting cross and arrange it with "bats" decorating the wall behind.

40 Have a large open coffin-shaped box as your drinks' bar. Place above it a humorous sign such as "Dying for a Drink". Add fake skeletons, skulls, and spiders as you wish.

41 Cut a large coffin shape out of cardboard. Cover with black tissue paper or card. Use this coffin-shaped cardboard as a "frame" for the game's decoration printouts. For a really spooky touch, attach photos of your guests to the coffin frame. (Note: please do not do this to anyone who might be unhappy with this.)

C2: Bedeck Your Party With Cobwebs and Spiders

42 Buy fake cobwebs or make them out of purple, grey, white or black twine. (See Making Cobweb Place Settings.) Alternatively, use creepy cloth instead of cobwebs.

43 Cover table mats with tissue paper and then cover with cobwebs or creepy cloth. (The photos in C1 above show mats with and without creepy cloth.) 

44 Alternatively, to match the circular cobweb shape, cover old LP records with tissue paper to form the place-setting mats and cover old single records to form the coasters. Again, use colors suitable for Halloween or horror. Then cover each mat with a spider's web made out of black or purple twine.

Important: these mats cannot be used to hold hot dishes from the oven. If you want to protect your table from the heat or soup bowls etc, then have several layers of records with cardboard between each layer. Test before use.

45 Use a large fake spider as an unusual table centerpiece. Make this more dramatic by covering a box with a covering to blend with the tablecloth and then draping with creepy cloth or fake webs. This creates a raised effect in the middle of your table.  

Spider webs and giant spiders form a mobile to extend the table centerpiece upwards
Spider webs and giant spiders form a mobile to extend the table centerpiece upwards.
Creepy cloth is hung between light fittings.

46 Extend a table centerpiece upwards with a mobile made out of giant spiders and spiders' webs made out of creepy cloth. Use different colors and textures of creepy cloth. (I used cotton thread to suspend large black spiders from the ceiling lights; as our light fittings were slightly fragile, I rested the largest spider on top of a vase draped in more creepy cloth. A few skeleton hands and lots of creepy cloth in different colors and with tears in multiple places completed the look.)

Important: use your own judgment regarding the safety of suspending anything from ceiling lights.

47 Consider extending the mobile by draping creepy cloth spiders' webs from the center lights to the corners of the walls. (As our dining room features two light fittings, I was able to drape creepy cloth from one to the other above the table to create an impression of a mass of spiders' webs above the table.)

48 Cover furniture with dark sheets and then hang creepy cloth over the furniture to represent spiders' webs. Also use creepy cloth to hang over pictures and party visuals. Use a selection of different colors and textures for best effect.

Giant spiders and skulls
Giant spiders, skulls and green glowing "eggs"

49 On a sideboard or bookcase, create a display out of giant spiders and a bell jar with a dead plant and bats. For an extra creepy factor, cover LED balloon lights with squares of green tissue paper and scrunch the tissue paper. Place a few of these in small stands (I used black spider's web candle holders) and then place the stands underneath the giant spiders. The green glow through the tissue paper will then look like they are hatching other-worldly spiders.

50 Create giant spiders' webs out of a roll of thin black, purple or red tinsel and have a giant spider on the edge of the web. See my Halloween Party Decorations post for how this could look.

51 Create dramatic spiders' webs from bin bags or material remnants. (Cut fabric into large circles or squares; fold in half, fold again to make a triangle, then fold again to make a cone. Cutting from the open end towards the closed fold of the cone, cut away strips, leaving some material at the fold to be the radial line. Decide how thick or thin you wish the strips to be.)  Alternatively, buy packs of stretchy white cobwebs. Whether home-made or bought, hang cobwebs from walls and ceilings or place them across the table. Decorate with plastic or fake giant spiders.

52 Make your own giant spider out of a binbag and stuffing. (Partly stuff a large bin bag with crumpled newspaper, crumpled plastic bags or other stuffing; twist to form the head and then stuff the rest of the bin bag with more stuffing to create the body; duct-tape up the end. Create the legs out of foam pipes or rolled-up newspaper covered in bin bags; hot glue or tape into the body. Optionally get creative with the eyes: cut a foam ball in half, paint it red and stick it onto the head. Or cover buttons with a red napkin or material scrap for spookily demonic eyes; alternatively, just use paper eyes. If desired, faux fur can be used to cover parts of the body or legs.)

53 Buy spiders' web plates, napkins and cups from an online party store.

54 Buy a spider's web tablecloth. Use this as a tablecloth or as a wall hanging.

D: Blood, Vampires and Bats Décor

Note: there are vampire "ambassadors" in the "Murder at Horror Castle" mystery game and so this could be an appropriate theme.

D1: Blood Decorations

55 Create a spooky party entrance. Use the "Enter if You Dare" sign in your Decoration Pack provided; put some bloody hand-print stickers on the windows with the word "Help". Alternatively, hang an old sheet over the door and attach the "Enter if You Dare" sign to this.

Sheet painted with "Horror Castle" bloody handprints
I painted a sheet with the words "Horror Castle" and added red handprints.
For our party, I hung this above our fireplace and added safety lights & creepy cloth.

56 Paint the words "Horror Castle" or "Enter if You Dare" on an old white sheet, then add red hand prints and smudges of grey paint. Hang as a wall feature or over your entrance door. (To get red handprints, wear a latex glove and dip your gloved hand into red paint.) I went with the title of our murder mystery (Horror Castle) and added a few safety candles behind the sheet so the lights would flicker spookily.

Note: I didn't think of this at the time, but fairy lights placed behind the sheet could also add an interesting effect.

57 Buy some party blood bags or party syringes from an online store. Fill with red liquid - for example, a red sauce or a red cocktail or mocktail. Place each guest's blood bag or syringe by their place setting as table decorations.

Blood bag used to hold the Marie Rose sauce for a prawn cocktail

58 Alternatively, be more creative and use these blood bags to decorate each individual food dish. The photo above shows a prawn cocktail where the Marie Rose sauce had red food coloring added to it before being placed in a blood bag. Note how the bread and butter is presented in a coffin shape with edible eyes on the tomatoes. (See our Halloween and Horror party food ideas post.)

59 In your bar area, have a group of blood bags filled with red drinks. Add a sign such as "Bloody Mary Anyone?" or "Blood Sweat and Chains" and let guests take their drinks. (Chains can easily be made by cutting strips of black card or paper, looping the strip through the previous chain and then gluing or taping the strips together.) 

60 Add fake blood to glasses, plates, cake stands etc. (Obviously, protect furnishings and clothes.)

61 Buy red napkins, glasses and/or plates. Alternatively, buy napkins, plates and cups in a blood-spattered theme

62 Buy a tablecloth with a blood-splattered theme. Use as a tablecloth or as a wall hanging.

63 Add fake blood (or red paint "blood" stains) to menus, place setting cards and any decorations you do not wish to reuse.

64 Put dolls' heads on spikes with some fake blood dripping down. Place on a "blood-splattered" white tablecloth (or white sheet) for added effect.

65 Have decanters or punch bowls of red drink. Serve red food to go with your meal. 

66 Red sheets hung on the walls as a backdrop to decorations or red foil curtains can add to the overall blood theme. Alternatively, hang a black sheet with red foil curtains over it. 

67 Drip red candle wax over white candles to create a blood-dripped effect.

D2: Bat and Vampire Decorations

68 Dress a skeleton in a vampire's cape. Optionally, add a red or black wig. For an extra spooky effect, wrap LED balloon lights in red tissue paper and place these in the eye sockets of the skeleton.

69 Next to your bar area, have a skeleton holding a blood bag. Give the skeleton a vampire cape and have a cardboard caption such as "Have a Bloody Good Party".

70 Cut bat shapes out of black cardboard. For an eerie effect, cut out the eyes. Tape on an LED balloon light and cover with red tissue paper so that the eyes glow red. Optionally, make these bats into a mobile or hang a string of them across your fireplace.

71 Spray a dead plant black and place it inside a glass cloche bell jar with some plastic bats on the plant branches.

72 Use the blood-splattered "Curse of the Vampire King" poster provided in the Horror Castle game decoration pack.

73 Fold red or black napkins into a bat shape.

E: Ghostly Décor

74 Create your own floating ghosts by draping white or grey cloth over something light and spherical; the spherical object could be a balloon or a plastic bag stuffed with other bags or scrunched up newspaper and sellotaped into shape. Create tatters by cutting strips off the end of the cloth. Use black duct tape or a black marker pen to create the eyes and mouth. Then attach to the ceiling using cotton thread.

75 Turn simple balloons into creepy Halloween ones by cutting spooky shapes out of black electrical tape; blow up balloons and then decorate with cut-out shapes to represent a ghost or a zombie.

Tip: if you want wide shapes, then stick tape strips onto greaseproof paper and then cut to shape. Or add googly eyes.

76 Create ghosts with more personality. Use Halloween costumes or pirate ghost costumes or a wedding veil. Hang these costumes on walls, over furniture or clothe skeletons in them. 

77 Add props to the ghosts such as chains. (I made cardboard chains by looping strips of black cardboard and then taping each loop together.)

78 Turn sepia photos of your guests into scary spooks by gluing them on card, cutting out the eyes, and then putting some small red LED lights or fake candles behind the eyeholes. (Ensure safety!)

79 Create a spooky vase or spooky mirror using paper cutouts and spray paint. (See creating a spooky mirror and creating a spooky vase.)

F: Witchy Décor

The "Murder at Horror Castle" mystery game is set in the Witch Kingdom within Horror Dimension and so witchy decorations are very appropriate.

80 For lots of ideas on how to decorate with witches and cauldrons, see my decorations for a Halloween party  page. See making DIY Cauldrons for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make medium and large-size cauldrons out of paper lanterns, paper mache, and spray paint.

81 Hang witch hats, broomsticks and capes on hooks. Add broomsticks, wands, and staffs.

82 For a horror feel, mix witch hats and broomsticks with skulls and spell books.

83 Buy (or make) silhouettes of witches. Place in your window to greet guests as they arrive or suspend from walls.

84 Buy cauldron or witch-themed paper plates, napkins and glasses.

G: Haunted Horror Castle Decorations

The murder mystery is set in Horror Castle (an ancient haunted castle in the Witch Kingdom in the Dimension of Horror). I therefore chose to make the haunted castle itself the focal point of my test party decorations.

Haunted horror castle decorations
Haunted horror castle decorations
Top photo: the entrance to the castle is guarded by the Grim Reaper.
Bottom photo: large standalone Horror Castle with its ghosts and chains.

85 Make a large haunted castle out of cardboard and old wood. See my How to Make a Haunted Castle post for detailed instructions on making a large (5.5 - 6 feet high) castle. This haunted castle is ideal as the main backdrop for your party and also as a photo backdrop for the group photo.

86 Create a room entrance to this castle by cutting cardboard into 2-3 panels of brick shapes. Create the dimensions so that they fit your door opening. Paint these bricks to match the main castle and then attach to the doorframe. (See photo above for how we linked our dining room and lounge with a castle entrance.)

87 Decorate with a mix of horror figures as you wish. In the photo above, I put a Grim Reaper Halloween costume on a wooden coat hanger and suspended this from a hook on the other side of the archway. I extended the arms of the costume outwards with a piece of wood and added a balloon covered by a horror mask for the face. I suspended the toy scythe from a hook using multiple lengths of black cotton. I also added different ghosts, giant toy spiders and lots of creepy cloth. I gave the ghosts different printouts from the game's decoration pack.

Note: If I had been creating the decorations for this party again, I would have given my ghosts more personality by using different Halloween costumes and adding chains, toy weapons or toy staffs etc.

88 Alternatively, buy a stone wall scene setter and use to simulate the walls of the ancient castle. Hang (TOY, for safety) swords, suits of armour, shields, broomsticks, old maps or witches' wands on those walls. Use as a party backdrop.

89 Use "natural" or "old" table settings. For plates, try silver-looking plates, self-colored ceramic plates or even banana leaves. Use tankards or goblets for glasses. For serving dishes, use wooden serving platters, wicker containers or earthen-ceramic dishes.  Have wooden candlesticks or metal candelabras. As a tablecloth, you could use burlap or hessian cloth covered with creepy cloth for a table runner. Note that unbleached cotton twill dustsheets are a less expensive alternative to burlap and that these could also be reused as a tablecloth for your pirate party décor

90 Try antique candelabras or black candlesticks. Consider dark lace candle holders.  Use black candles with scarlet candlewax dripped over them. Use black or dark purple tablecloths.

91 Frame creepy printouts in antique frames. Or choose printouts of people in ancient costumes and then add red gouges to the eyes.

92 Have a signpost directing visitors to places mentioned in the mystery game such as the Dungeons, Battlements, Treaty Room, Banquetting Chamber and Portal Room.

H: Use the Murder Mystery's Decoration Kit

Horror murder mystery printouts
Just a few of the printouts from the horror murder mystery game

93 Use some of the many printouts given in the game's decoration pack. The pack includes posters, labels for wine bottles, room signs, the ancient vampire curse and a "rights for ghosts" petition.

94 To make these printouts look more impressive, put them on a piece of black or colored card. Alternatively, cover a piece of cardboard with tissue paper or napkins to match your dinner table color scheme. Then add the printouts to this. Putting 2-3 printouts onto one large piece of card can look more impressive that smaller displays. (In two of the photos above, I added the printouts to cardboard covered in purple tissue paper to match the table place settings. In the other photo, I glued a printout onto white paper and then glued this onto a piece of black card for a "double frame".)

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Important Disclaimers

These ideas are provided for your inspiration only. Any recipes or recipe ideas should be tested before your party. Ideas for party recipes, decorations or costumes should be adapted as you wish. It is YOUR responsibility to follow any necessary safety precautions.