Those of you who read the last newsletter are probably surprised to see this. After all, didn't I say that I wasn't going to publish this anymore? Well, what can I say - I changed my mind.

See, it turns out that more and more people are signing up to the newsletter, even though I haven't been publishing it. And that's a bit embarrassing, so here we are.

So the new look Guilty Parties newsletter will contain everything that you get with the news blog, but it's delivered straight to your email inbox. My current plan is to send the newsletter out in the early part of the month - but I know what my schedule is like and sometimes it may be a little late. So I'm just apologising in advance...

Speaking of a new look, you may notice that some of the pages on my site have a different look. That's because I'm changing (I like to think of it as improving) the look and feel of my site. Some of the changes (as well as the general look of the site I am changing elements behind the scenes as well) should make it easier for me to update in the future.

Anyway, welcome to the first of the new, revised, Guilty Parties newsletter. I hope you enjoy it.

Get ready for Halloween...

I know it's the end of August and for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere we're enjoying balmy summer days, but it really is time to start thinking about Halloween.

Halloween marks the start of the party season - I've read somewhere that Americans spend more on Halloween than any other festival, other than Christmas. (Here in Britain Halloween is a little too close to Bonfire Night (5 November), and I think we generally still prefer to burn an effigy than worry too much about trick or treating.)

Certainly as far as murder mystery parties go, Halloween is one of the most popular times to throw a murder mystery party. Costumes, plot, excitement - even a hint of supernatural. Murder mysteries have them all.

As you'll all know by now, I strongly advocate giving yourself as much time to plan your party as possible, which is why I suggest that you start preparing at least six weeks in advance. And six weeks before Halloween is mid-September - and that's only two weeks away...

So get ready for Halloween now by thinking about which murder mystery party you're going to host. Click here for my Halloween party game suggestions.

Adding more characters to your murder mystery party

Sometimes you get the best type of problem.

You've sent out your invites, you know who's coming - and then you discover that someone wants to bring a friend...

Or you want to host a particular murder party because the theme is perfect for you - but it isn't big enough...

Assuming that you want to accommodate the extra guests, you have a problem. You need to add more characters.

You have several options - ranging from giving one of the characters (or even yourself) an assistant to creating fully integrated characters for the extra people. I wrote about this a while back, but I've recently updated it. Click here to learn more about your options for adding characters to your murder party.

Write your own murder mystery party tip!

Are you a murder mystery expert?

Have you just hosted your first murder mystery party?

If so, I need your help.

So far I've written all the murder mystery party tips myself - but I am only one person. I can only write about the things that I think are tricky, or need further explanation. You might know better -- and you might have your own tip to help others enjoy their parties.

So I’ve added a new feature to my party-tips page -- a form at the bottom of the page where you can add your own tip. If I like it (and I may edit it a bit), I’ll add it to the site and I'll make sure that you're credited with the tip. I will even link to your website, if you like.

You can also use the form to suggest a topic or tip for me to write about. If you do, I'll add it to my to-do list. I can't make promises -- after all there's a chance that I don't have the answer -- but I'll do my best and if all goes well I'll add it to the site in due course.

Click here to go to the party-tips page. The form is at the bottom of the page.

Mysteries-on-the-Net have just released a new murder mystery party game - Murder on the Petulant Express.

It was one of the marvels of 1937, the new streamlined train owned by industrial giant Peter Petulant came to be known as "The Petulant Express." The train's regular journey between New York City and Chicago constantly attracted a passenger list of the rich and famous. And, on this particular journey, they all seemed, by temperament, to be irritated and angry. Petulant himself was a passenger on the noteworthy trek, occupying his plush Presidential Car.

But, last night after a stop in Akron, Ohio, someone made a permanent alteration to the industrialist's career. For his body was found early this morning in his cabin by a porter delivering his breakfast tray.

Still holding a crystal champagne glass and with his solid silver cigarette case in the pocket of his robe, Petulant appeared to have died without a struggle, the victim of an unexpected attack...

As with all their mysteries, Murder on the Petulant Express features eight suspects and lots of sleuths. Each of the suspects has a detailed character background - and it's the job of the sleuths to pick through the truths, lies and half-lies to solve the mystery and identify the murderer.

Click here to go to the Mysteries-on-the-Net website and learn more about Murder on the Petulant Express. (You'll need to click on the Complete Mystery List button to find it.)

What's wrong with a sit-down meal?

I was recently asked a question from someone looking for a murder mystery party game to celebrate her birthday. She had a venue lined up (a restaurant) and around 20 guests.

The only problem? The restaurant was providing a three-course sit-down dinner - and she wanted to know if she would still be able to play one of the interactive murder mystery games.

Unfortunately, I don't think I gave her the answer she wanted - I didn't think that an interactive murder mystery party game is appropriate for her event.

The main reason is the sit-down meal. Interactive games (ie, the games I write about on this site such as The Auction and Hollywood Lies) are very interactive and require guests to talk to each other. They need to be able to mingle so that they get a chance to talk individually with one another. A sit-down meal doesn't really allow you to talk to anyone other than your immediate neighbours. That's fine when you're playing one of the sets you can buy in the stores and there's only 8 of you playing - it doesn't work so well when you've got 20.

Now, if you really wanted to you probably could host an interactive murder mystery around a sit-down meal, but you'd have to make sure that there were long gaps between the courses so that your guests can carry on their conversations (and their plotting and backstabbing) away from the table. That also means you will need to have some room that they can spill over to (perhaps a separate room, or even some other tables that they can sit at). And ultimately, the whole event will take much, much longer than originally envisaged - so I would want to start early and expect to finish late.

If you have been successful at combining sit-down meals with interactive murder mystery parties, why not tell me about it via the link below.

If you've got a question of your own, click here and I'll do my best to answer it. (But please - read the FAQ and "Choosing a Murder Mystery Game" first as I may already have answered it.)

An alternative to Acrobat Reader

Acrobat Reader has started to annoy me. In recent editions it has got larger and larger - the latest version (7.0) is nearly 20MB to download and I'm finding it slow and frustrating.

Surely there's an alternative?

Handily, there is. It's called Foxit PDF Reader and you can get it from http://www.foxitsoftware.com

Unlike Acrobat Reader, Foxit PDF Reader is a 1MB download and is easy to install. I've checked it with PDF files from most of the murder mystery game companies and it opens them without any complaints. Okay, so it doesn't have some of the "sophisticated" features of Acrobat Reader, but nobody really needs them anyway.

Anyway, if you're getting a bit fed up with Acrobat, give Foxit PDF Reader a try.

Click here to go to the Foxit Software website.

Halloween Game for Kids

The Ghostly Case of the Haunted Amusement Park is a mystery party for up to 20 kids - and it's ideal for Halloween.

The setting is the Seashell Cove Amusement Park and the Mayor has just exited the ghost train - but he is sitting in a puddle, his eyes are wide open with shock and his hair has turned from blonde to bright white! What has happened?

The party requires 8 suspects (4 boys, 4 girls) who all have roles to play - everyone else is an investigator solving the mystery.

Click here to learn more about The Ghostly Case of the Haunted Amusement Park.

That's about it this time - have a great murder mystery party!

Steve

Comments? Ideas? Feedback?

I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this zine and tell me what you think!

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