Forsaken Stars

Last night Ali and I went to Aaron’s and Terra’s Nth Annual Halloween Party out in good old Fowler, CA. Aaron’s home is nestled in the vineyards, surrounded by trees, so it’s perfect for entertaining on a frightful October Night. While the turnout has decreased over the years as friends and family are drawn to host their own parties or move further away, the quality of the night remains, and it’s always good, safe fun in a comfortable environment. Aaron is the consummate host, Terra brings a great enthusiasm (if it weren’t for her, Ali and I might not have made the trek ourselves this year), and the gang brought a King’s Feast to nosh on throughout the night. Ali’s salsa was a big hit, too!

Ali went as an ass-kicking Red Riding Hood, complete with dagger, battle wounds, and a wolf’s pelt in her basket, and I went as the Luchador Red Spider!

I thought it was cool that Ali and I went in matching red colors, and Aaron, as Pac Man and Terra as Morgan, Goddess of The Hunt (?) met us matching in black.

Steve and Cathy made great matching clowns, and Robert and Serena were a WOW convention attendee and zombie respectively. Melissa built her owl costume from a design she found on Google; Luke assembled a bathrobe, flannel pajamas and a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to portray it’s hapless hero, Arthur Dent (I don’t think I got a shot of him, unfortunately); and Dan and Amy were Blue and White Mages from Final Fantasy.

I think one of the things that makes Aaron’s Halloween parties stand out from the crowd is that, after everyone has arrived and settled in, chatted and snacked, we all shuffle out into the night under the great old tree and we each get blindfolded and take a turn at swinging a stick at a pinata! This year was Ali’s first crack at bat, and she took the witch’s head after three swings! We re-tied the bodies of a couple of the pinata’s to make the wicked fun last a little longer, and Aaron and Steve took turns at swinging the pinata and striking it.

After we thoroughly trounced the witch, the Blue Ranger, and then their headless bodies, we retired back into the house for more lounging. The Blue Mage and Pac Man had a brief argument over who should get first turn at the xbox, but then it was decided Terra would entertain us all by playing Aaron’s new game Limbo, an atmospheric game entirely in silhouette and smoke, about a boy in search of his brother, having to navigate pitfalls, bear traps, giant spiders and treacherous waters, requiring the player to solve brain teaser-like logic puzzles to overcome each new obstacle. I both loved it and cringed at watching it unfold.

I’ll post more pictures at the Forsaken Stars facebook page! Thanks again to Aaron and Tera and to everyone in attendance, it was a spooktacular night!