Murder High Reunion
Facts of the case
Guest Info
Look no further to find out more information on the 80s and the low down on all of your classmates and how far they’ve come from high school!
Click here to download a glossary of popular eighties terms that might come in handy during your Night of Mystery |
Click here to find some FABULOUS fashion trends and ideas of how to dress for the Reunion!
Click here to get your campaign button designs!
You can print them out on sticker paper and trim for stickers
or order a design-a-button kit and create real buttons!
Find out how to make a crown and sashes here. |
FADS! | ||
‘Baby on Board’ Signs Big Hair with lots of Hairspray Boom Boxes Break Dancing Cabbage Patch Dolls Care Bears Converse All-Stars Denim Jackets Friendship Bracelets Garbage Pail Kids Goatee Beards Hacky-Sack He-Man Horror Movies | Hyper-Color Shirts Jelly Shoes Jem and the Holograms Koosh Balls Lace fingerless gloves M.U.S.C.L.E. Miami Vice Fashion Mullet Hairstyle Neon Nintendo Not! Penny Loafers PSYCHE!! Rainbow Brite | Rubik’s Cube Saved By The Bell Slap Bracelets Smurfs Strawberry Shortcake Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tetherball Trivial Pursuit Valley Girls Vans Tennis Shoes Wacky WallWalker Where’s the Beef Wrestling |
Check out which classmates you’ll see at the reunion!!!
Nick Nixon— The Class President. Nick led the class in 1988 and hopes to lead the country in 2020. Does this presidential candidate have too many skeletons in the closet?
Nancy Nixon— The Class Vice President. Nancy has always been known to stand by her man, but is she tired of always being put on the back burner…?
Molly Ringworm— The Drama Queen. Molly is known to steal the show, whether it was in the school musical or her current soap opera hit, The Brash and The Brutal. For the sake of the reunion, let’s hope she is neither.
Joe Nebraska— The Jock. As the captain of the football, basketball and baseball team, Joe is a legend at Murder High and in his own mind. Joe has said he will do anything to become a legend at the reunion as well.
Natalie Nebraska— The Cheerleader. Popular and perfect, everyone loves her. Or so she thinks.
Pamela Abdul— The Pompom Captain. The queen of dance in high school, Pamela went on to great stardom in choreography. She is said to be back to spice things up, especially with her old rivals.
Mallory Majesty— The Prom Queen. With Mallory’s wealth and good looks, she is accustomed to ALWAYS getting her way and she will make sure that the reunion is no different.
Mike Majesty—The Prom King. A proper king keeps court with only those who will enhance his reign.
Cindy Crawfish—The Class Flirt. Cindy is still vibrant, bold and unmarried after thirty years. Most of the women at the reunion may want to protect themselves… and their man. Rumor has it Cindy can be deadly when she doesn’t get what she wants.
Judd Jenson— The Class Stud. Best friends with Joe & Mike, Judd was always the most popular with the girls. Now that he is thirty years older, there may be some rejection that he is not used to…
Bobbie Bright— The Valedictorian. A Harvard law graduate, Bobbie won’t let anyone challenge their claim to “most likely to succeed”.
Bailey Babble—The Class Gossip. Bailey has been living and working in this town since they graduated high school and still knows everything that’s going on. But how much is too much?
Steve Spielson—Audio Visual Squad Leader. This a.v. squad geek turned Hollywood movie director, Steve is said to be the most successful of the high school classmates, but has he betrayed too many on his way to stardom?
Randy Reporter—Newspaper Editor. With a presidential candidate at the reunion, Randy is determined to get an insider scoop–and they won’t stop till they get it!
Byron P. Keaton—The Math Team Captain. The king of calculators is back to strut his stuff. Ridiculed high school, Byron is back to show just how far money can take you.
Myra S. Keaton—The Math Team Cheerleader. Married to Byron, Myra is planning on coming to the reunion to show the “real” cheerleaders what she is made of…these days it’s money!
Terry Johnson—Hall Pass Monitor. Terry was hard-nosed in high school and even tougher now as a traffic cop. Watch out because Terry will be watching everyone’s moves and will take charge if anything goes wrong at the reunion.
Danny Drums—Marching Band. To Danny, nothing mattered more in high school than band camp. Music is still on his mind, as is revenge.
Sally Sax—Marching Band. Sally is now married to her band camp sweetheart and wants to make sure her sweetie doesn’t step out of line.
B.A. Barricade—The Punk. Never one to take orders well, now B.A. does it for money in the name of ‘private security’. It’s amazing what people may pay B.A. to do.
*** Some characters may not be included in all versions.
Costumes
Things you might want to incorporate into your outfit for the whole eighties appeal!
Costumes
Things you might want to incorporate into your outfit for the whole eighties appeal!
• The “Off the shoulder” look–Inspired by Flash Dance
• Jellies sandals–They were plastic. They were noisy. They were hot.
• Exercise gear and leg warmers–“Let’s Get Physical” tore up the charts, and people everywhere tore off the layers in favor of spandex and sweatbands and got down with their bad selves.
• Teased hair– Perm it, fluff it, hairspray it and then adorn it with chunky clips.
• Tight acid or stonewashed jeans– Tight, and we mean tight jeans were all the rage, for both men and women. Bleach was splashed onto the denim to give it a patchy mixture of dark and light color. Then they were ripped and safety pins added to give the desirable punk/rebel look à la Billy Idol. Throw a mullet on with those pants and you were hot stuff.
• Neon
• Shirts with a clip on the side– Oversized t-shirts were big. Clipping them up on one side with a chunky plastic clip (make it neon, even better) was even bigger.
• Shoulder Pads– For reasons we’ll never understand, the linebacker look was popular back in the day.
• Don’t Worry, Be Happy– printed on clothing
• Slap bracelets
Hairstyles
Find the perfect hairstyle to go with your outfit!
• Feathered, high bangs
• Asymmetrical, new wave haircut
• The side ponytail– Bubblegum pop and valley girl mallrats popularized this 80s hairstyle to epic proportions.
• Crimped hair
• The mullet– Mullets may have received a bad rap through the decades, but back in the day … oh … so dreamy.
• The rat tail or ducktail
Decoration Ideas
Setting the Scene
Decorations
Decorations
Go all out 80s with your Decor!
Just a few suggestions for your totally 80s Reunion!
Stake out the front yard with campaign yard signs and posters for your favorite presidential candidate – Nick Nixon! (campaign yard signs, posters and button designs included with the mystery).
Make a “Murder High Reunion” Banner. You can go simple and make it from inexpensive banner paper or poster board or go all the way and have one printed up from a professional printer!
Create an outside archway to take pictures under, like a real high school event and then have everyone take their pictures under it. A perfect way to remember the evening. (See more under photo spot ideas.)
Find an old yearbook (preferably from 80s) and blow up pictures of what you all could have looked like. Make sure to get all the hairstyles and trends of the time (feathered hair, the mullet, etc.). Don’t forget to include pictures of all the extracurriculars that are attending! (pictured below)
Use the website YearbookYourself.com and create yearbook pictures from the 80s of each of your guests. Hang them on the wall like a reunion. On the website, you can also print pictures of student life like the cheerleading squad, football team, etc.
Hang up old movie posters of some of the favorites– try to see if you can get all of the members of the brat pack! (Included with the mystery)
Have framed pictures of your favorite heartthrobs (Kirk Cameron, Judd Nelson, Michael J. Fox, etc.)
Set up a breakdancing floor and encourage a “dance off” sometime in the night.
Have eighties classic movies playing in the background (such as: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, etc.)
Have some of your favorite 80s candy out— sweet tarts, wax lips, candy buttons, bottle caps, Big League Chew, candy necklaces, Sprees, Pop Rocks, Fun Dip, etc. See more ideas on the food suggestions.
Have a sunglasses table with all sorts of cheesy (inexpensive) 80s sunglasses. Make sure your guests take one home with them to remember the night!
Find old cassette tapes and spray paint them.
Can use the tapes for just about anything
- Centerpieces
- Write people’s name on them and use them as placeholders
- string them and hang them for decoration
- Make a light here (pictured below)
Picking a Color Scheme
Color Scheme
With this theme, it is easy to pick out the perfect color scheme – NEON!
To pull the color scheme through to your whole space consider the following:
• When decorating a large area or to make an area look more intimate and festive, consider draping gossamer (or another inexpensive fabric) across the ceiling, walls, and edges of the tablecloth. Combine multiple, bright colors for a fabulous appearance.
• Balloons, balloons, balloons!
• A little spray paint can go a long, long way. Spray paint novelty items, vases, old wine bottles, etc. to help bring out the color theme and add inexpensive decoration to your party.
• Have a tablecloth—whether plastic or fabric – the colors of your choice or go with an 80s black and white pattern (like above).
• Accentuate your tablecloth with the alternative color by using paint pens or fabric paint to paint on decorative accents.
• Neon streamers
• Neon balloons
• Neon tablecloths
• Neon plastic-ware
• Have balloons and put glow sticks inside to give them the neon-y feel
• Have a backdrop with neon paint splatters or spray paint on it
• The more NEON, the better!
Creating Your Photo Spot
Creating Your Photo Spot
Give your guests an unforgettable souvenir by setting up a photo area where they can capture a picture of themselves in character.
A Few Suggestions:
• Pick a place where there will be good lighting.
• Accessories and decorations can make the difference. Have some extra props on hand that your guests can pose with.
• An easy way to create a background is to use a “scene setter”. These affordable rolls of images transform your room instantly and make for a good backdrop to your picture.
• Make sure there is enough room to fit everyone into the frame.
• For individual shots of guests, designate someone to be in charge of pictures as your guests arrive.
o Consider your character list and which character would fit the role of taking the picture. I.e., if you want mug shots, perhaps ask the investigator to be in charge of taking the pictures.
• For a group picture, take one just before the introduction is read or right after the solution is read (before people may start heading out).
o These are two times when you can count on everyone being around and attentive.
Setting the Scene
Food & Drinks
Food
Spotify Playlist
More Music Ideas
More Music Ideas
Choose from any of our suggestions to add to the ambience of your totally 80’s party!
Here are a few of the different types of music poular in the eighties!
80’s Pop Rock- From the first lyrics of “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the advent of music videos on MTV in the 80’s radically changed the music industry forever. Early eighties groups such as DEVO and Haircut 100 were early adopters of the medium, but pop stars such as Madonna and Michael Jackson later transformed the format into a huge business.
80’s Heavy Metal– In the mid to late 80’s Heavy Metal became the popular music genre. Artists such as Van Halen, Poison, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Quiet Riot and Guns and Roses got extensive 1980’s radio airplay. “Hair Metal Bands”, as they are affectionately called, scored top charting hits with the “power ballad” song formula. Nothing represents the decadence of the 80s more than the heavy metal bands signed from the LA Strip during that time. The song lyrics mostly embodied the “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” mentality of the 80’s.
House Roots In The 80’s– The Hip Hop scene has its roots in the 1980’s and becomes a powerful musical and dance influence. Hip hop artists like Grandmaster Flash Kurtis Blow and N.W.A. bring Hip Hop to the forefront.
80’s Hardcore Punk Movement– Out of opposition to the pop music of the 80’s evolved the Hardcore Punk movement. This angry, politically charged genre included more social awareness in its lyrics. The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and Reagan Youth are popular bands of the 80s Harcore Punk scene.
Make a Mix – Here are the Top Billboard Hits of 1984 you may want to include. You can find these hits on iTunes and download songs individually without having to purchase a whole album.
For Free Music– Visit your local library for a number of compilations from the time.
A Totally Eighties Party Playlist
- Madonna – Borderline
- The J. Geils Band – Freeze Frame
- Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya
- Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun
- Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World
- Devo – Whip It
- Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
- Starship – Sara
- The Cars – Drive
- Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
- REO Speedwagon – Can’t Fight This Feeling
- Go-Go’s – We Got the Beat
- Toto – Rosanna
- The Bangles – Manic Monday
- Hall & Oates – Maneater
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine – Bad Boy
- The Human League – Don’t You Want Me
- Prince – Little Red Corvette
- Whispers – Rock Steady
- The Pretenders – Back on the Chain Gang
Host Information
Theme Ideas
Theme Ideas
Make posters and signs for your Murder High Presidential candidate (designs included in mystery materials)
Print out some Hall Passes for your Hall Monitor to pass out
Creating Your Photo Spot
Creating Your Photo Spot
Give your guests an unforgettable souvenir by setting up a photo area where they can capture a picture of themselves in character.
A Few Suggestions:
• Pick a place where there will be good lighting.
• Accessories and decorations can make the difference. Have some extra props on hand that your guests can pose with.
• An easy way to create a background is to use a “scene setter”. These affordable rolls of images transform your room instantly and make for a good backdrop to your picture.
• Make sure there is enough room to fit everyone into the frame.
• For individual shots of guests, designate someone to be in charge of pictures as your guests arrive.
o Consider your character list and which character would fit the role of taking the picture. I.e., if you want mug shots, perhaps ask the investigator to be in charge of taking the pictures.
• For a group picture, take one just before the introduction is read or right after the solution is read (before people may start heading out).
o These are two times when you can count on everyone being around and attentive.
Utilize ALL the EXTRAS
Utilize ALL the EXTRAS
With this mystery theme, we have included a number of ideas and designs to help enhance your party with easy-to-make decorations and props.
Included is:
• Investigator Notebook Designs
• Cup Label Designs
• Nixon Campaigning materials– Button Design, Yard Sign Designs, Campaign Posters
• Photo Props
• Prom Queen and Prom King sash templates
• How to make a Crown
• 80s Movie Poster Designs
• Food Tent Designs
• Cupcake Topper Designs
And more…
Win a Free Party
Win a Free Party
Each month we highlight one of our customers who has posted on our blog and award them a FREE party!
To get your $5 coupon AND be entered in the Party Of the Month contest for a chance to win a FREE party,
please email nompartyofthemonth@gmail.com
Don’t forget to add all the important details and party highlights that made your party one to remember! We love to hear about all of the hard work you, as host, put into your party. From the decor to the food, costumes, whatever. As well as how you and your guests acted (and reacted!) throughout the night! Everything that made your party one your guests will never forget — tell us about it! And be sure to attach some pictures!!!
Upon submitting, we will email you back a coupon to use for $5 off your next party AND enter you in our “Party of the Month” contest, where you could win a FREE party! Once submitted, you will not have to resubmit, but will be entered EVERY MONTH until your party wins!
Check out some of our past winners here! Night of Mystery POM Blogs
Tips
If you still have question, the Frequently Asked Questions page at Night of Mystery is a great resource or you can contact us.
Because of this, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST you get a guest count before formally ordering. You can do so by downloading an invitation, inviting your guests and then purchasing your mystery once you have a more accurate number of people attending. Unfortunately, if you find yourself purchasing the wrong sized party, you will have to purchase another version of the mystery for the size you want unless you are moving from the 15-20 version to the 20+ version.
You can download an invitation here before ordering.
With this mystery theme, you we have included a number of ideas and designs to help enhance your party with easy-to-make decorations and such.
Included is:
– Investigator Notebook Designs
– Cup Label Designs
– Nixon Campaigning materials
• Button Designs
• Yard Sign Designs
• Campaign Posters
– Photo Props
– Prom Queen and Prom King sash templates
– How to make a Crown
– 80s Movie Poster Designs
– Food Tent Designs
– Cupcake Topper Designs
And more…
Each month we highlight one of our customers who has posted on our blog and award them a FREE party!
To get your $5 coupon AND be entered in the Party Of the Month contest for a chance to win a FREE party, please email nompartyofthemonth@gmail.com
Don’t forget to add all the important details and party highlights that made your party one to remember! We love to hear about all of the hard work you, as host, put into your party. From the decor, to the food, costumes, whatever. As well as how you and your guests acted (and reacted!) throughout the night! Everything that made your party one your guests will never forget — tell us about it! And be sure to attach some pictures!!!
Upon submitting, we will email you back a coupon to use for $5 off your next party AND enter you in our “Party of the Month” contest, where you could win a FREE party! One submitted, you will not have to resubmit, but will be entered EVERY MONTH until your party wins!
Check out some of our past winners here! Night of Mystery POM Blogs
Thanks again for hosting with Night of Mystery and we can’t wait to hear all about your party!!!