Dante's Inferno Party
My circles of friends are big halloween fans, and we like to drink, and get a bit lewd too, but it has provided for some really fun adult parties, and really fun adult party ideas. I'll try to keep this as brief, and clean, as possible.
Last year's party theme was Dante's Inferno, which has 9 circles of hell. Since our address is 135, we actually called it the 1 + 3 + 5 Circle of Hell. The premise we came up with was that we had 9 different rooms in the house represent each of the circles from Dante's Divine Comedy. Finding 9 rooms isn't easy, so in come case we had hallways & stair landings as locations, as well as the porch. Each circle of hell was clearly labeled, and was decorated in a fashion that either matched the descriptions from Dante's Epic Poem, or somehow reflected the sins of the sinners in each circle.
Each circle had it's own Demon General & Assistant. Each circle had it's own rules & games. Guests were given paper lists with all 9 circles listed, and guests would attempt to complete all 9 circles. Those who had would basically get their names in a hat to win prizes. Because we were expecting 100 or more people, and no one wants to run a circle all night, we started the night with circles 1 & 2 open, and every 30 minutes we opened the next circle, while closing the lowest one. This, more or less, give everyone 1 hour to complete any particular circle, and each general only requires 1 hour of really duties. It also encourages guests to show up on time. Plus we got to say we all descended thru the circles of hell together. I suggest adjusting the times to the size of your party.
Essentially, each General & Assistant performed some sort of rule, game, or activity which each guest had to complete to get their list checked off for that circle. Again, the games/activities were inspired by descriptions in the poem, or somehow related to the sins of that circle. In the actual poem, the reoccurring theme is that the punishment fits the crime.
Here is the printout of the list, as it gives a little description so each person knows what each circle is about:
1+3+5 Circles of Hell-O-Ween
1st Circle – Limbo :
the Unbaptized and the Virtuous Pagans are not punished, but can never live with God.
2nd Circle – Lustful :
those overcome with Lust are blown about too and fro by a violent storm, without hope of rest
3rd Circle – Gluttony :
the Gluttons wallow in mud & garbage while a constant downpour of freezing rain, black snow, and hail.
4th Circle – Obsession of Material Goods :
the Squanderers are punished to roll large stones, always clashing head-on with the Miserly, who hoarded possessions, and roll equally great stones in the other direction.
5th Circle – The River Styx :
the Wrathful are punished in the muddy, sloppy River Styx, mad with rage they bite and fight each other and themselves.
6th Circle – City of Dis :
the Heretics, never heeding the word of God, are trapped in flaming tombs
7th Circle – Phlegethon :
the Violent against people & property are stabbed by demons with pitchforks to submerge them in a river of boiling blood. Those guilty of Suicide are transformed into thorny tree, when on judgment day their own bodies will be hunk from their trunks. The Blasphemers, *********, and Usurers walk a flaming desert, with fire raining down on them.
8th Circle – MaleBolge (evil circle) :
the largest circle holds various forms of punishment for the Panderers (pimps), Seducers, Flatterers, Simoniacs (abuse of church power), Fortune Tellers, False Prophets, Barrators (abuse of political power), Hypocrites, Thieves, Evil Counselors, Sowers of Discord, and Falsifiers.
9th Circle – Center of Hell :
Condemned here are those Traitors to Kindred, Country, Guests, and Masters, and he who committed the ultimate betrayal, Satan, who betrayed God
I can't seem to find the list of all the games/activities, but I'll write what I remember for the moment. If you have less people, your games can be more involved. If you have a lot of people like we did, then you'll want the games to be quick. Most of our games involved drinking at some point.
1) Do a shot, then limbo under the limbo stick.
5) The River Styx: Dice with death: played 1 roll the drinking game 3 man, while we had songs from the band 'Styx' playing on a boom box.
7) Decorated like a crime scene from Dexter: pick 1 of 3 red shots that were under a red light, only one of them was non-alcholic
8) MaleBolge: An adult version of pin the tail on the donkey, except you were pinning a certain male anatomy onto a skeleton on the wall. If you missed, you had to do a shot.
9) Traitors to Guests & Masters: Write a sin you committed at this party on a posterboard on the wall & sign your name next to it, or do a shot.
The way I look at it, I'd much rather clean up my husbands puke than someone else's...so in a way I'm relieved it was him and not another ghastly goul. Fun can sometimes = consequences, I'll take my chances.
