If your expectation from a murder mystery is sitting back while a team of actors have all the fun, you should look again at Manchester Murder Mysteries.

Manchester Murder Mysteries have over ten years’ experience in writing and hosting murder mystery events. Party themes include ‘Gin & Sin’, ‘The Great British Gatsby’, ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ and ‘Malice in Wonderland’. With a dedicated party planning team on-hand to arrange all the finer details, a tailored and chilling murder mystery experience makes for a truly personalised party.

For these aren’t just parties – making them personal to the guests is a key theme of the Manchester Murder Mysteries mission. As, rather unique to the industry, the company makes a profound point of not using actors for their events; instead, every individual involved in an event gets their own role to play. From a maverick murderer to a wavering witness, people quickly become part of the plot, which heightens the interactive quality of the game.

Character details are sent to guests in advance, so people can prepare for the fun ahead.  Plus, it can happen anywhere. All part of adding to the unnerving thrill, Manchester Murder Mysteries can make their events fit a range of settings – from people’s living rooms if they are looking for a small family party, to iconic and historic spaces, hotels, even restaurants, across the North of England.

Whether it’s over wine tasting, dinner, during an annual meet-up or an adrenaline-pumping team building activity with a twist, there are a number of party packages available to suit a range of occasions.

Manchester Murder Mysteries cater for bookings all kinds – from small private parties to big corporate events. With customers across industries and walks of life, there is clearly an appetite for murder mystery in the city. HAUNT spoke to the founders to find out more:

Hello! What was the inspiration behind Manchester Murder Mysteries and when was it set up?

“Our first experience of a murder mystery was taking part in a do-it-yourself box set with friends.  It was fun, but the story wasn’t great and we felt we could write something far funnier and stranger, so we gave it a go.  That went down well with friends and we were asked to write more for birthdays and special occasions. We got great feedback and very often people said it was something we could do in a professional capacity so in 2012 we started the business.”

How can you tell there is a public appetite for murder mystery events and why do you think this is?

“I think murder mysteries have always been popular and, since starting the company, demand for events has risen quickly and not just in Manchester, we’ve also expanded to Cheshire, Liverpool, Blackpool and Yorkshire. Murder mysteries are something a little bit different for a night out which makes them popular. Ours stand out from the others for a couple of reasons.  As mentioned, we don’t use actors so people who book our events get to star in the show and unleash their inner actor.  We keep the themes of our stories fresh and modern making sure we include topical elements and lots of humour. Also, if your preference is a smaller, personalised party with just friends, perhaps for a hen or birthday party, this is something we can offer. It is often preferred to joining a big public event with lots of other people, which is the common format for many other types of murder mystery events.”

What is the biggest challenge when it comes to organising a Murder Mystery event?

“There can be a lot of unknown variables to manage. When working in a new venue for the first time there’s a lot of liaison involved to help staff understand what we do (they often think we’ll arrive with a troupe of actors in tow!) and making sure the rooms are suitable for the activities our guests will be taking part in.  Sometimes we don’t see the venue in advance, for example if it’s a guest’s house or office.  This can mean a lot of thinking on the spot about how to manage certain elements of the party.  However, this is also a big part of the fun and helps us keep these events exciting and different for us and our hosts.”

Treading the line between thrilling and chilling, scary and sensitive must be difficult at times. How do you think you manage this? (as you are evidently very professional!)  

“We work very closely with the person booking the event.  It’s important to us to hear their thoughts and requests for what they want from the party. This enables us to plan the perfect event for that particular group, be it a surprise for a friend’s hen night or a corporate team-building exercise. We even have family friendly versions of some of our themes for big celebrations. Even though our events are all themed around a dark and dastardly murder, we always aim for a fun, light-hearted tone to make sure everyone is comfortable and enjoying themselves.”

What is the strangest location where an event has taken place?

“Perhaps not a strange place, but Manchester Cathedral is certainly one of the more interesting venues we’ve hosted in.  It’s a beautiful space and has so many intriguing architectural and decorative features, alongside its own fascinating history. We were able to incorporate so much of that into the event as clues, quiz questions and even a treasure hunt.”

Do Murder Mysteries sometimes go wrong? (i.e. what if people go off script, don’t discover the murderer etc.)

 “To be honest, that’s often a big part of the fun.  When hosting parties, we can see our themes over and over but it’s never the same twice due to the guests.  Some of our guests’ ad-libs are hilarious and the solutions they arrive at if they’ve missed the murderer can be lots of fun to listen to. Some people can be shy about taking part but they really warm up once we get going. More often than not, that shy person will be the life of the party.  We’re keen that our guests are comfortable so we allow them to be as reserved or as flamboyant as they wish. The most important thing to us is that everyone has a great time.  We also have an excellent team of hosts that run the events and they’re very skilled at putting guests at ease, being approachable and fun, and making sure everything runs smoothly.”

Can you tell us about some memorable responses to your events?

“We’ve had some really lovely feedback but our favourite was a recent message from a guest who’s been to three of our events.  “We really enjoy your murder mysteries. You can tell how much work and creativity goes into them. It's not just a whodunnit; it's an experience crafted to suit all personalities but still with enough direction to give everybody the same great entertainment.”  This really went to the heart of what we’re trying to achieve and summed up our service so well.  We get great responses to the actual events but also many positive comments on our communication and organisational skills.  This is just as significant to us as we know how important these special occasions are for our guests and it’s a pleasure to be asked to be part of it.”

For more on Manchester Murder Mysteries you can visit the website: ttp://manchestermurdermysteries.co.uk