(May 22, 1984) 

Want to spice up your next party? Just hire Murder To Go - and a group of actors will stage a "murder" right at your bash!

For a minimum fee of $2,000 you get a "killer," a "victim," a hardboiled "private detective" and fake guests to mingle with your real ones.

Then a shot rings out from another, part of your home, your guests discover the "corpse" - and the "detective" starts grilling everyone in search of the culprit.

"I custom-write the script for each party, and use information from the host to include personal tidbits about the guests," explained David Landau, 27, who founded Murder To Go.

Guests are sent a bloodstained letter which warns them to expect a "murder" at the party, Landau explained.

"They are told that among the genuine guests will be a number of impostors who are really actors. They don't know who the actors are, so they have no idea who will be the murderer and the victim.

"They are told to keep their eyes and ears open so that they can pass on clues to the detective when he later interrogates them.

"Everyone gets very involved, jumping up and down and accusing each other of the 'murder." The climax comes at midnight when the detective unveils the killer.

"Everyone gets an opportunity to be part of an exciting drama. They live out a fantasy. They don't just watch a play - they're part of it!"

Landau was working in New York as an electrician and unsuccessfully trying to get some murder mysteries published when he hit upon the idea for his company while planning a party for some pals.

"I had always found ordinary parties boring. So I thought, 'Why not stage a murder?' " he recalled.

Landau began tossing murder parties aboard a train traveling from New Jersey to upstate New York. But his first party proved to be a disaster when the train's electricity and its plumbing went out, the food spoiled and other problems hit.

Discouraged, he thought of scrapping the idea. But fortunately the second train trip was a rousing success, and then he began staging parties in people's homes.

Landau currently is staging about two "murders" a month.

"I'm having a lot of fun," he said. "I have a saying, 'If you've got the money, honey, we've got the crime!"

- Larry Haley