Today, I spent fleshing out the remainder of the story line for the fall murder mystery OPENING NIGHT. It's a little different this year, sort of combined mystery game/scavenger hunt (we usually just have done more traditional play in one session games.) It's a combination of online clues and in-library foraging that should be fun, with caches of evidence hidden around the library, as well as haunting teasers directing people to the game (or just freaking them out.) I now have a full list of clues and teasers and an order for release, as well as the content for the weekly caches. We'll all come together at the end of the month for a party and unveiling/prize awarding.
I was thinking again as I was formatting clues and evidence how much creating these is like some writing projects--those poetry projects that are more fragmented. It's not as wrought, obviously, but it does unfold in a similar way, but instead of poems, it's fragments of manufactured documents and ephemera that are really fun to create. This year, I also use the library as a space--for murders and ghosts--a little more thoroughly. There'll be chances to investigate library resources as well. The better you do, the more a complete picture of the events the night of the murder.
Once again, I chose an older time period, the 90's mostly because I wanted it to seem like a longer haunting, which somehow makes it more believable. Our lack of a 4-5 stairwell plays a part, as does certain spaces in the library--the bathroom on the 3rd floor, the creepy Blum Room. The trophy for the evening will be hidden somewhere in the library and will be hunted down during the final throes. Meanwhile, I intend on having fun with my haunting--fake bloody handprints, random rose petals, eerie ballet music--at best they will be enticed to join the game, at worst, they'll just get a creepy little experience...which is sort of like my writing...
