Murder In the Dark

A dark house. A collection of friends, and maybe some strangers, are moving silently about. Suddenly one stumbles upon a body on the floor and yells body. Everyone freezes except for one, who happens to be a detective. The detective turns on the lights and takes note of where everyone was at. He asks everyone to come into the same room and then starts asking questions. Eventually, he decides who committed the murder and makes an accusation. The accused reaches into her pocket and pulls out a card. She turns it over and reveals an Ace, identifying her as the murderer.

What just happened was not some Agatha Christie murder mystery, but a game called Murder in the Dark. It is a great party game for kids and teens. As a teen I recall playing it a number of times, each to hilarious ends. Here is how you play:

1. Create a deck of cards that has 1 card for each person playing and only has 1 ace and 1 king.
2. Shuffle the deck and deal them out, 1 per person. Each person views their own card and keeps it a secret.
3. The player who draws the ace will be the murderer and the player who draws the king will be the detective.
4. All participants spread out to different rooms and the lights are turned off.
5. Players slowly move between rooms in silence. When the murderer feels the conditions are right (they are alone with only one other) they pinch the other player between the shoulder and neck.
6. The player who is pinched silently drops to the ground.
7. The murderer, not wanting to be caught in the room, generally moves on. If the murderer can find more victims before the body is discovered, they can kill more.
8. If another player stumbles (sometimes literally) over a body, they call out body and everyone freezes.
9. The player who drew the king now turns on the lights, takes note of player locations and then calls everyone to a central room.
10. The detective then asks players questions trying to determine who might be the murderer. The murderer can lie at this point.
11. The detective then makes an accusation. If they are correct, they have won the round. If they are not, or if the murderer killed the detective, then the murderer wins. Collect the cards, shuffle and play the next round.

In all the times I played it, one murderer went on quite a killing spree and killed all other players. It was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre!

Caramelized Baked Chicken

There is no hiding the flavor in this dish!

There really isn’t much to this recipe.

Mix together the ingredients for the sauce.

Spice the wings and pour over the sauce.

Out of the oven.

These wings have a lot of flavor.