Locke & Key Party Ideas

August 25, 2022 1:13 PM

So, my son is turning 14, and he's told us he wants his birthday party to be "Locke & Key" themed. The problem is that the show/comics don't really have any branded party accessories available. I've ordered a big box of antique-looking keys, and will decorate some with those, but was hoping you guys might have other ideas for decorations. Other than the keys, I'm kind of at a loss, so any help is GREATLY appreciated!
posted by richmondparker to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

I wonder if you could make a "well" and come up with some kind of way to make a (fake, software-based) echo...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:17 PM on August 25, 2022

Maybe a giant wall keyhole for photos, or a paper keyhole covering your front door so the guests enter through a keyhole?

There are a bunch of Locke & Key stickers of the keys, etc., on sites like Redbubble or Zazzle if you need favors.

You could
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 1:26 PM on August 25, 2022

Doors! You could make them with cardboard and sharpies and/or paint. extra huge bonus points for only taping them to the wall on one side and having easter eggs of some kind behind them (maybe super difficult riddles with a prize for the person who figures them out?), this seems in keeping with the mystery/riddle parts of the show.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 1:29 PM on August 25, 2022

Some kind of big spider thing? Grandfather clock somewhere?
posted by Charity Garfein at 1:48 PM on August 25, 2022

Something like this cut into the right shape could give the idea of the portal to the blue world. (It’s not exactly right, but I think in the right shape it might be close enough.)
posted by tan_coul at 1:53 PM on August 25, 2022

They might be too old for this (and it’s more of an activity than a decoration) but you could give guests sticks of “whispering iron” (aka sculpey clay) and have them make their own keys
posted by tan_coul at 1:57 PM on August 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

You could set up a room to be inside your son's head, as though accessed by the head key.
posted by Ragged Richard at 2:18 PM on August 25, 2022

This might be too involved, but it could be cool if you could pull it off:

If you can get a hold of a projector, you might be able to rig it as a rear-screen projector behind a sheet stretched across a doorway to create a portal key effect where they could say where they want to go, and you type that into a google image search and they open the door to see a picture of that location.

Masks of some sort for the face changing key could be fun. Just play a game where people are pretending to be somebody else in the party or something.

Might be able to do something with chains/Hercules belt/plants/funhouse mirrors
posted by willnot at 2:21 PM on August 25, 2022

As you are an adult, whatever the kids are doing with those keys, you have to act completely bewildered.
posted by jozxyqk at 2:43 PM on August 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Check your me-mail!
posted by fillsthepews at 2:47 PM on August 25, 2022

I'm not familiar with either the show or the comics, so take this with a grain of salt, but maybe you could get a couple puzzle boxes like the magician Chris Ramsay solves on YouTube (not all of them are wildly expensive). They would be an activity, too, of course.
posted by Comet Bug at 7:42 PM on August 25, 2022

Don't suppose you can make it a scavenger hunt with key themes? With some collaboration or exchange needed to solve the puzzle.
posted by kschang at 8:30 PM on August 25, 2022

Make keyholes in the back of their necks? Either get large black temporary tattoos of another shape and cut them into smaller keyhole shapes, or use a template and some kind of permanent makeup like waterproof liquid eyeliner. (Don’t use smudgy makeup as they will forget it’s there and ruin couch cushions!)
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:58 AM on August 26, 2022

Not knowing the premise of the show my immediate thought was to buy some padlocks, picks and set them up with You Tube videos about basic lock picking... but now that I have read the Wikipedia description I would still buy padlocks, lockable containers and create a scavenger hunt. Clues could be related to the story content.

Lockable containers could be cardboard boxes with doors / walls painted on them / photocopies of door images from comic and a hasp / loop setup even just duct taped onto the door. Boxes could be of various sizes and more or less concealable in your apartment / house / garden / local park.

Put the next clue or key in a box and some minor prize like fake tattoos... or maybe bananas, candy / choc chips / nuts / can of whipped cream and the final box results in a setup for ice cream sundaes / banana splits or an equivalent build your own snack and then sit them down in front of an episode or two.
posted by pipstar at 8:52 AM on August 26, 2022

On more careful rereading of your question which just asked for decorations... just stick with cardboard boxes with doors painted on them.
posted by pipstar at 8:53 AM on August 26, 2022

More of an accessory to a game. The Music Box where you control others by name? If you could create that, you could use it for a simon says type game.
posted by Gor-ella at 11:57 AM on August 26, 2022