My latest Rae Riley mystery, A Riddle in the Lonesome October, takes place, surprisingly, during the month of October with the finale on Halloween. The holiday offers unique features for the mystery writer, and I wanted to share what I learned about how to write a Halloween mystery.
Defining Halloween Mystery
Before I get started, I should define what I mean by Halloween mystery. This is a story that fits squarely in the mystery genre. No matter how spooky the incidents appear throughout the story, by the end, the detective will have proved that everything has a rational explanation.
Sherlock Holmes summed it up best in the short story, “The Sussex Vampire”. A former client asks Holmes to see a man who needs information on vampires. Holmes does some quick research and finds the topic beneath contempt. He tells Watson, “This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”
I know there are paranormal cozy mysteries, but if a book belongs to that subgenre, that should be clear from the cover and back cover blurb. Mystery fans hate to puzzle their way through a story only for the detective to reveal that it wasn’t the butler who did it, but a ghost.
So I’m giving tips on how to write a mystery set at Halloween without any supernatural trimmings.
Take Advantage of the Halloween Traditions
If I’m going to set a mystery during Halloween, then the traditions associated with the holiday have to be critical to the mystery. Otherwise I could set the story at any time of the year.
In Riddle, an outdoor Halloween attraction, The Haunting in the Hollow, is a setting essential to the plot for a number of reasons:
- The attraction is set up on a piece of property rumored to hold a lost inheritance.
- Because it’s a public attraction, characters can come and go on the property as I need them to.
- The abandoned house and the notorious reputation of the man who built it and hid the inheritance add atmosphere as well as critical clues to the mystery of inheritance’s location.
Since it’s October, people have spooks and ghouls on the mind. When Rae’s Uncle Hank is seriously injured in a riding accident, his daughter, who riding with him at the time, says a monster spooked his horse. That statement attracts bigfoot hunters to the county. And people call Rae’s dad, the sheriff, at home, reporting sightings of either a bigfoot or a black bear. And since it’s October, it could also be someone in a costume.
Trick or treating at a nursing home becomes a way to get kids and adults in the same space who don’t usually mix and wrap up several story lines.
Other Halloween traditions that work for a mystery:
- Trick or treating, any location. It’s a great way for people to be in places they don’t normally visit. A kid could observe a crime undetected. A mom waiting on her kids at a house could see something suspicious. Or the bad guys could try to escape through streets clogged with kids in costumes.
- Jack O’Lanterns: Carving pumpkins as a group can be a way to bring characters together who don’t usually associate with each other. A clue could be hidden in one. Or the particular way a pumpkin is carved could provide a clue.
- Halloween parties: Lots of mysteries involving costume parties. See if you can give this old setting a fresh twist. I’ve hosted a family Halloween party for years for my kids and nieces and nephews at our house in the country. Kids running around in the dark can provide all kinds of trouble, clues, and red herrings for a mystery. Actually, adults taking part in a Halloween scavenger hunt would work the same way.
Some areas have very localized Halloween traditions. See if there are some you can use for inspiration in your mystery.
What mystery used Halloween as a setting with no supernatural aspects?