Haunt My Block Case Night kit · Every street keeps a file.
Your book club has read everything. Open a case file instead.
The Haunt My Block Case Night kit is a free 90-minute printable for 4–12 grown-ups at home: real, redacted newspaper clippings laid out as evidence, role cards, theory cards, and a ghost story that is entirely, cheerfully made up.
For private, at-home listening.
It’s a kit, not an event: you run your own evening at home. Haunt My Block does not host, run or ticket any gathering.
What’s in the kit
Pick a town
Each town kit is built from real items found in pre-1930 newspapers in the Library of Congress archive. Names are redacted, and nothing is about real deaths or tragedies.
Print and set the table
Exhibits, role cards (the Archivist, the Skeptic, the Witness…), theory cards, discussion questions and snack names.
Lights low
Read a short fictional story aloud, or play one full narrated Family-Friendly Edition story ($14, optional) set at a public place your group shares.
Close the file
Read the theory cards aloud, vote on the best one, and stamp the folder “FILED”. Snacks continue indefinitely.
The evening at a glance
About 90 minutes at home. A 30-minute short form is in the kit: one exhibit, one theory round, one story read aloud.
| Time | Step | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Settle in | Everyone draws a role card. |
| 0:10 | Evidence table | Lay out the exhibits. Read silently. No theories yet. |
| 0:20 | Exhibit reading | The Archivist reads aloud; the Skeptic gets one objection per exhibit. |
| 0:35 | Theory round | One-sentence fictional explanations, folded and collected. |
| 0:45 | Lights low | The listening segment. |
| 1:00 | Debrief | Discussion questions, then read the theories and vote. |
| 1:25 | Close the file | The Archivist stamps it “FILED”. |
Everyone gets a job
- The ArchivistReads the exhibits aloud and keeps the stamp. Calm under pressure. Wry when required.
- The SkepticMust raise one sensible objection per exhibit. Gets the last cookie if proven right.
- The WitnessMay add one clearly invented “I heard my great-aunt say…” detail per round.
- The CartographerFinds the exhibits’ street names on a map and reports how they look today.
- The Keeper of SnacksResponsible for morale.
Choose the listening segment
- Free: read aloud a short fictional town story, or play a town episode of the free podcast Haunted America, Town by Town, from Haunt My Block, where one is available.
- The full story ($14, optional): order one Family-Friendly Edition story set at a public place your group shares (the library, Main Street, the town green) and play it at home with the lights low. See the Family-Friendly Edition.
This kit is Family-Friendly Edition material. Spooky, not scary; no gore; nothing about real deaths or tragedies. An adult does any ordering.
Two house rules, archivist’s honor
- Nobody’s home address goes on the table, or into a story, unless that person offers it themselves.
- The clippings are real; the ghosts are not. If someone asks “did this happen?”, the honest answer is: the newspaper item did, the story didn’t.
Town kits contain three real clippings (Exhibits A–C) with personal names redacted. Items about deaths, crimes against people and tragedies are excluded, so the file is odd, not grim.
Exhibit A · Illustrative sample
Neighbors Puzzled — Owner xxxxxxxx (name redacted) Abroad Since Spring
Residents of the block were at a loss last evening to account for a steady light observed in an upper window of a dwelling known to have stood empty these four months. Patrolman xxxxxxxxx made inquiry but found the doors fast…
Questions
Do you run Case Nights?
No. The Haunt My Block Case Night kit is a free printable for private, at-home listening. We don’t host, run, organize or ticket anything.
Is it really free?
Yes. The kit is free to download and print, with no signup. A full narrated story is optional ($14).
Is any of it real?
The clippings in town kits are real public-domain newspaper items (published 1930 or earlier), with personal names redacted. The stories are fiction, written and narrated with AI assistance.
Can our library or school use it for a program?
The Case Night kit is for private, at-home listening. Libraries can use the separate Library Archive Hour kit (Family-Friendly Edition only).
Fiction, AI-assisted. Stories are written and narrated with the help of AI tools. Characters are invented; we never name real past residents and make no claim that any place is haunted. Clippings are real public-domain items (published 1930 or earlier) from the Library of Congress Chronicling America collection, with personal names redacted. Haunt My Block is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Library of Congress. For private, at-home listening.