CALEDONIA, Wis. — For one father and son in Caledonia, turning their yard into a haunted trail is about much more than Halloween.
David Cottrell and his 19-year-old son, Dawson, are preparing for one last round of the haunted trail before Dawson heads off to college.
"It turned out to be something fun that my son and I love. It's turned into much more," David Cottrell said.
Watch this video to hear more from David and Dawson Cottrell:
This year, they're hoping to hit a total of $20,000 collected for childhood cancer and research, a deeply personal cause for the family.
"Dawson, my boy, my 19-year-old, is a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed at 5 years old with leukemia, and it was a horrible, horrible time for us," David Cottrell said.
For Dawson Cottrell, the experience shaped his outlook on life.
"I really think of it as like a second chance at life. And it gives me the motivation to go at what I really have a passion for," Dawson Cottrell said.
One of those passions, for both of them, is horror.
"His love for horror, my love for horror, and obviously his background of fighting cancer for almost five years, put us together with this trail," David Cottrell said.
What started eight years ago as a way to offer a safe and free Halloween experience on a street not ideal for trick-or-treating has since grown into something much bigger. Volunteer actors dress up in costumes, including some of Dawson's friends, many of whom have experience in theater.
"It started out as kinda scary. Then it got pretty scary. And now, we go all out, and we love to see adults running out of the back with, uh, uhm, soiled pants," David Cottrell said.
"Playing scary characters is my thing, and I really enjoy scaring people," Dawson Cottrell said.
It takes only a few minutes to walk through the trail on the 1.5-acre property, but "it's nonstop scary," David Cottrell said.
The donations that have come along with it have also grown.
"We did put out a donation bucket out," David Cottrell said about their first year. "My wife radioed me, and she goes, 'You won't believe the nurse that just came through. She's from Children's Hospital, and she put a $100 bill in there,'" David Cottrell said.
Over the years, they’ve sent money to Make-a-Wish, St. Jude, and local families in need of direct support as they navigate childhood cancer.
"I'm doing this to get more people here, to raise more money, to have more people have fun," David Cotrell said. "And I thought why not contact a news station, see if they'll come out and do a story. Let everybody know that we're doing this."
Dawson Cottrell brings enthusiasm to the trail, both for the fright and for the cause.
"When I get going on something, I really go at it," Dawson Cottrell said.
This year will be the family's last hosting the haunted trail, as Dawson intends to go away for college next year.
"It's a chapter in our life of his cancer journey, and him becoming an adult, that's kind of coming to an end," David Cottrell said.
And with that in mind, they're hoping the community rallies to help them reach their total raised goal of $20,000 through years.
"I would love to see us get to that $20,000 mark, to kind of go out with a bang, to kind of say, 'This is it,'" David Cottrell said.
The trail is a free experience, located at 2828 5 1/2 Mile Road in Caledonia, and opens to visitors at dark on Oct. 30 and 31. The family said the experience can be adjusted for all ages.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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