DCI Tom Barnaby Midsomer Murders

We love the one-liners delivered by DCI Tom Barnaby during Midsomer Murders, like this classic!   I want to check out the mystery games, please!  Read More →

The Story Behind Friday the 13th

It’s Friday the 13th, a date that carries massive superstition across the globe. The basis of these superstitions vary as widely as the superstitions themselves, and the date is now synonymous with bad luck and slasher films. Hell, there’s even an official “phobia” name for it: friggatriskaidekaphobia (yes, we can pronounce that. No, not five times quickly). But one event seems to rise above the rest as the true beginning of the curse of Friday the 13th, and the reason we as a society... 

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25 Earth Hour Activity Ideas!

Earth Hour 2011 is nearly here (Saturday the 26th from 8:30-9:30pm)! It’s amazing that, with our technology-driven lives, filling an entire hour without the use of television, internet, vehicles, microwaves etc, can be such a daunting task. Without the constant Twitter stream or Facebook status updates, what are we to do with a FULL HOUR?! While the purpose of Earth Hour is to benefit the environment and bring awareness to our individual consumption, this question is a valuable side effect.... 

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Saint Valentine – a man with SERIOUS style.

On February 14th we celebrate love, eat chocolate, buy lingerie and are inundated with images of a small flying baby in a diaper shooting people with arrows. Stop looking at my butt, a#*hole! But in the midst of our cinnamon-heart-induced sugar highs, what most people fail to realize is that February 14th is a holiday that marks a death – the death of Valentine. Around 278 AD, Valentine lived as a priest in Rome. One of the major parts of his job description was to marry people. Enter Claudius... 

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Poison – the uncommon modern-day murder method

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Arsenic and Old Lace. We were about to study the story in my grade 7 Language Arts class and the play was, serendipitously, showing in Calgary. My English teacher jumped at the chance to take those from her class, and I immediately signed up – not because I was interested – I had no idea what it was about but the prospect of getting away from the runny-nosed guy with a crush on me who kept borrowing my eraser and returning it slick with nasal... 

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Vampires and Werewolves Badges and Buttons

For those who have been keeping up with the Shot In The Dark Mysteries blog for a while, you might remember last year when a tragic techno-accident caused me to lose all of my files dating back to 2006. That was EVERY game and design file in the history of my company. It was very difficult, because I had a number of games in the works, and I’ve had to start all over again on a few of them. One of those was Vampires vs. Werewolves. The game was finished and I was waiting for the audio files... 

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Halloween mystery games are getting revamped – which one should be first?

QuestionsView Results To view these games visit us at www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com  Read More →

Red Hot Riding Hood (or "Grandma, Control Yourself!")

I’m in the early days of a new project, and was doing a bit of research today when I stumbled across this video. I’m a huge fan of twisted fairy tales, and aside from being a die-hard fan of Jasper Fforde, I have also dabbled in my own, writing The Wizard of Oz Murder Mystery Game as one of the very first games I ever independently launched. I LOVE this video! It’s from 1943, and was originally taken off the air because of the beastiality connection (I’ll be honest, my curiosity... 

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Christmas In July Is OVER! Woot!

Okay, I’ll admit that Christmas in July isn’t such a good idea. I only just moved to this neighbourhood and already my neighbours think I’m a wack-job! In fact, I received nothing but strange looks as I balanced Rudolph and Santa’s Sleigh on my roof, and the lighted candy canes on my lawn only received attention from the neighbourhood dogs, who each took turns claiming them as their “territory”. But it’s all coming to an end, and that means Halloween in August!... 

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Sneak peek of the new cover art for The Santa Strangling

Hey all, here’s a fun sneak peek of the new cover art for The Santa Strangling, a 9-10 suspect murder mystery game for adults that features our exclusive SUPER SECRETS. The Santa Strangling is re-launching just in time for Christmas in July, with a brand new look that fits in with our visually stunning party game materials, accusation forms, audio files and more! And just for fun, I’m putting my Santa Chalk Outline out there in the public domain. I’m only asking that if you use... 

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Pirate Name Tags

You’re a pirate. There are many pirates you don’t know. How can you find out who they are? Simple! The Pirate Name Tag! “Aye” made it, and now I want to share it with the pirate community. Perfect for networking events, pirate speed dating and other such social situations. AAAARRRRRGGGGG! If you’re going to use it on your site, please be kind enough to link back to us. Otherwise, copy it, save it to your computer and make some bonny nametags for your pirate-themed party! VIEW... 

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Production Pictures from Le Chat Noir Mini-Mystery Party Game!

Here’s some great production pictures from our upcoming family-friendly mystery party game, Le Chat Noir, a non-murder mystery designed to be played in an hour! It takes place in a Parisian cabaret in 1921 and launches Friday, June 4th!  Read More →

A Friday Mystery Joke!

It’s a beautiful Friday and I’m in the mood for a mystery joke: My husband told me this joke the night we met (after visiting a number of pubs…) Sherlock Holmes and Watson are camping. They spend the night talking around the campfire, talking, roasting marshmallows and enjoying themselves. Finally, the opium kicks in and they crawl into the tent for a good night’s sleep. Sometime during the night, Holmes wakes Watson and says, “Watson, what do you see?” Watson... 

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Star Wars Darth Vader Tom Tom Ad – Behind The Scenes

Hey all, came across this and almost died from laughter – Darth Vader is a new voice for Tom Tom. Roundabound! swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.youtube.com/v/2ljFfL-mL70&rel=0&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0", "vvq-1364-youtube-1", "425", "344", "10", vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes);  Read More →

Take a "Stab" at our free, online teeny-weeny murder mystery game!

On Wednesday, May 5th at the CRAVE Toronto launch party, Shot In The Dark Mysteries tried out a new format of mystery game. While we already have our winners from the event, (to be announced on Wednesday) we wanted to open it up to the general public, to try to solve the mystery. We have prizes too – copies of CRAVE and free murder mystery games (or free family-friendly mystery games, it’s your choice!) So, here’s the set-up and 5 clues. Read through, determine the killer, cast... 

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Le Chat Noir Interactive Mini-Mystery Game Production Preview!

Hey Party People! In the wake of the giant file-related disaster, we have found a number of the files we needed and after a brief delay, are on track to launch Le Chat Noir, our newest non-murder interactive mini-mystery this weekend. But, since all the files disappeared, I have to do the artwork again, and took the opportunity to really get into the true character of THE CAT. While we’ll talk more next week about the actually story behind Le Chat Noir itself, here are some production pictures... 

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iPhone + Chocolate = the way to my heart

Reposting from my fave Domestic Sluts – visit them here! Domestic Sluttery I HAVE an iPhone and I still want these chocolates! haha. The new iPhone chocolate box distracts us iPhone owners from our iPhones just long enough to eat some chocolate, and then return to our iPhones. It’s a tough life. - Mystery Maiden Next Generation Confectionary – introducing the ‘ichocolate’ Being the kind of girl who loves shiny things which make loud noises, I really want an iPhone.... 

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The CRAVE Toronto Launch Party Suspects are final!

This Wednesday, May 5th, is the launch party for CRAVE Toronto, a book that features “the most unique and stylish guidebook for city living. It is a celebration of women entreprenesses that showcases some of the most creative, interesting, and gutsy proprietors throughout our city” (from the CRAVE Toronto site). The Urban Girl's Manifesto - CRAVE Toronto During the launch party, we volunteered to put on a very small murder mystery game, which would not only highlight what we do (just... 

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The 5 Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug!

Five Minute Chocolate Cake In A Mug Okay, I saw this and I just HAD to share. All you hosts on the run out there are going to DIE when you try this. Why? Because: - it’s cake - it’s chocolate - it’s made in a mug - it’s ready in 5 minutes - it’s no BS. Why not try it for your next party? It’s become this viral phenomenon, and now all hostesses in the know are talking about this cake-miracle. DO IT! You know you want to. Then, times the mugs by your number of guests... 

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Drama, Trauma and Drug References

Hey Party People! So THIS is how it feels to be a precautionary tale. I’ll tell you a quick, yet horrific story and hopefully save you some time, trauma and drama. Last Friday, about 20 minutes after I sent you the Mysteries Ezine, something HORRIBLE happened. I lost every mystery game file I have created in the last five years. See, since I do all of the design and writing in-house, and until only recently had been running Shot In The Dark Mysteries from my home office, I had a number of HUGE... 

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Earth Day 2010 – How about a mystery?

Earth day is fast approaching – in fact, it’s this coming Thursday. And while people worldwide will be celebrating Earth Day in various parties, celebrations, fundraisers and eco-initiatives, chances are most of us will spend the day as we always do – another Thursday – one day until TGIF! Truth is, you don’t have to be a hero and arrange a big event to make a difference. In fact, making a difference and doing something for the environment could be as easy as print and... 

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Friday Recommendation For You!

Hey Party People! This weekend we’re not partying like usual – I’m in the process of moving cities, so the house is a disaster and we’re getting the keys to the new place this weekend, so instead of our usual festivities, we will be camping out in a house without furniture! It will be fun though, and the lack of television and computer will give us time for quality conversation, games and reading. As I was thinking of what to pack for the weekend, my thoughts came around to... 

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Chocolate Tasters Wanted? Am I Dreaming?

Okay, so this may be completely off-topic, and you may wonder what chocolate has to do with Murder Mystery Games. Aside from inspiring some amazing mystery party game ideas, the answer is nothing. I may be a business owner who plots murder for a living, but I’m also a woman and I love 3 things more than everything else: Coffee, Shoes and Chocolate. Particularly truffles. Which is why I actually had a physical reaction when I read about this truffles tasting event. It was a shiver – a... 

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I ain't no Steinlen, but I can Noir my Chat with the best of 'em!

Love this… Next week we are launching the second game in our mini-mystery game series, called Le Chat Noir. It’s a redux version of a game we wrote for the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary & College in Cochrane, Alberta, called The Cat Came Back. We are tweaking this awesome, non-murder mystery game for the general public and launching it under the name “Le Chat Noir”. Of course, we’re not the first to use these three French Words together. Our game is about a... 

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The Medieval Feast Boar – Who saw that coming?

Recently I started creating sample game materials for each game launched on Shot In The Dark Mysteries, or re-launched (like Murder At The Superhero Peace Convention – an old fave that just got a hot new facelift). These samples include the game instructions (or, in the case of the Mini-Mysteries, a sample of a suspect guide) and sample clues. Naturally, I don’t include REAL clues, the ones in the sample are fake and, usually, a bit outrageous. A Medieval Mystery, the first in a new line... 

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