A scream rings out of the darkness. A crowd of about a hundred bystanders jumps in shock then rushes in the direction from which the scream came. They gather at the lip of an open trench and watch intently, some even taking notes, as a grounds employee and several volunteers uncover the source of the woman’s scream. It’s a body. Or, to be accurate, half a body which has been chopped in half with what appears to be a chainsaw. The gruesome remains are quickly covered and the excitedly-talking audience is chivvied back inside for after dinner drinks and dancing. All, that is, except for a few hardy souls that remain to scan the ground for clues or videotape the scene of the crime.

Now, it may seem hardhearted to you that those people could return to their party without a thought for the poor wretch found murdered in a ditch, but that’s just the way a typical evening goes at Allenberry’s Murder Mystery Weekends. Dinner is always an event due to the fabulous food liberally spiced with the occasional explosion, fire, hysterical screams, and various dead body parts.

For the past fourteen or so years, Allenberry Resort and Playhouse has geared up for several weekends of murder, mayhem, and music and combined them with fantastic food, dancing, and comfortable lodgings. The entire weekend is designed to revolve around a murder mystery, and the guests are there to put their sleuthing skills to the test and to see if they can come up with the murderer. Clues generally abound, but according to Bob Crawford, author of the last nine scripts for the mystery weekends, “most people don’t have a clue” (no pun intended) when it comes to the end of the weekend and they have to try and finger the murderer. “Not many get it right because the scripts are too complicated and confusing” continues Crawford, “although, certain personality types do better at it than most. Bookkeepers and accountants, those who work with numbers, tend to do very well. Those with more creative jobs or personalities tend to read things into the action that I never intended and sometimes make up entire scenarios that have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. Kids also tend to do well because they notice things that adults sometimes overlook, plus they aren’t thrown off by some of the red herrings because they go right over their heads while the adults will take them as facts.”

Sitting across from Crawford in a little coffeeshop in Mechanicsburg, I wonder aloud how many people actually manage to solve the crime on average. Crawford, who reminds me of a gnomish Ben Franklin with his fly-away hair, long beard and metal rimmed glasses, chuckled deeply and said, “Fifty percent of those who come for the weekends don’t care whether they solve it or not, they’re just there to have fun. Then there’s the ten to fifteen percent that are very competitive and are extremely serious about solving the crime. They’re the ones that take notes on their laptop computers or even videotape the action and then replay it in their rooms at night looking for clues.” Crawford laughs and says, “They’re also usually the ones who think they know how the script should go and are quick to point it out to you. That’s just part of the fun, though, trying to keep everyone on track without being thrown by comments made by the audience. It makes every weekend different even though we use the same script for the whole season. It keeps the actors on their toes. But, I’d say only a small percentage manages to get everything right.”

I asked Crawford to take me through the schedule for a typical weekend, and he obliged and stated that guests arrive Friday night and are treated to a cocktail party followed by dinner. “The food is usually linked to the show’s theme in some way such as a different cuisine every meal when they had a global kind of mystery. 1998’s show, Maxwell’s Dead and Breakfast, will have New York feel, and the food will reflect that. There is usually an ‘event’ linked to the show after Friday night’s dinner, and then there’s entertainment. Saturday starts with breakfast followed by an event or two then there’s lunch.” It seems that the guests are free to wander Allenberry’s lovely grounds during the afternoon and then there’s a Saturday cocktail party followed by dinner. Everything is then tied up at Sunday brunch at which time the guests are given a questionnaire they must fill out with various questions concerning the murder and most importantly, of course, whodunnit. Prizes are awarded for those scoring the highest, and they include season tickets to Allenberry’s Playhouse, bottles of wine, and various other items. There are also prizes given out by the actors to their favorite guests, those that have made the show memorable for them in some way.

“The comedy aspect is the most important part of the show,” asserts Crawford. “We sometimes do some macabre things, like hacking bodies apart, but nobody gets offended by the gore because it’s all done so lightly that no one could take it seriously. It’s the comedy that keeps them coming back. This year’s show, Maxwell’s Dead & Breakfast revolves around a morning talk show that specializes in bed and breakfasts coming to do a live broadcast at Allenberry. The guests will be part of the viewing audience that has come to see the filming of the show, and there will be plenty of intrigue surrounding all the main characters.” When asked if he ever worried that people might guess the murderer too soon and blurt it out, Crawford said, “Everytime I write a new script, I look at it and say, ‘they’re going to get this, it’s too easy’. But, somehow they rarely do.” I asked him if he wanted people to figure it out and he said, “Of course, we want people to do well. It’s exciting when they do.” Crawford leans closer with a twinkle in his eye, “It’s especially exciting when you see someone so close to getting it and you know that if they’d just ask the right question, everything would fall into place for them. You just keep hoping that they’ll ask you so you can give them the piece of information you need. It’s fun.”

The cast for the murder mystery is made up of local and imported equity actors. They rehearse for perhaps ten days before the show and then go live. When asked if most of the lines were ad libbed, Crawford said, “No. Most are written and there is a solid script. It’s when you get into the actors answering questions that the improvisation comes into play. It isn’t necessary for the guests to ask questions, but it does help clarify a lot of points. And, the actors will all answer truthfully in character. Unless they’re the murderer, of course, and then they’ll lie their tails off.”

Allenberry has 68 rooms available for the mystery weekends which have been doing well and selling out the last several years. Crawford said that many people return every year and look forward to seeing some familiar characters as well as new ones. “There are some recurring characters, such as the police detective I myself played for six or seven years. There are also characters written into the script that you never see, such as Snuffy who answers the phone at the police station. He’s very hard of hearing and sometimes gets things confused, which adds to the plot.” Crawford laughs, “People like Snuffy a lot even though they’ve never seen him and never will.”

Looking for something a little bit different to do on a weekend? Tired of going out to dinner and a movie and the same boring old conversations? Well, I can guarantee that a weekend at Allenberry is anything but boring. The cost per person is $295 for double occupancy, and the weekends run November through April. That may seem high at first, but when you consider you get an entire weekend’s worth of food, lodging and entertainment, you’ll realize that it’s a steal. To make reservations, call 258-6120, and call early because already even in September some of the weekends are sold out.

Happy sleuthing!