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Saturday Fright Live

Remix Dance Academy brings back haunted fundraiser

By Lana Bradstream 4 min read

The frights returned to Remix Dance Academy on Saturday.

After hosting the Nightmare Trail in 2025, nonprofit dance officials decided to do the Haunted Trail this year.

'Dance mom" Kara Wildman and Director Angie Torres wanted to make the trail bigger and better this year. Remembering lessons learned, they still designed and built a maze outside of the studio which led to storage units containing nightmarish scenes.

"It was a good starter year," Torres said. "I think we had a few hundred people who came through. We felt good about that. We always have higher goals. This is a nonprofit dance studio, so we fundraise throughout the year."

The Halloween activity is the biggest fundraiser for Remix, and this time, Wildman said they did not "throw everything out there."

"Last year, we didn't know what we were doing, and we learned a lot," she said. "That was part of what our first meetings were about, talking to people who participated last year and asking them what worked, what didn't work, what we should bring back and what we should try this year."

As a result, the outdoor maze was a lot more secure to stand against fall Iowa winds, and a tarp covered the walkways to protect against rain.

"Everything is secure, so it can be windy and you can feel good in this place," Wildman said. "We have different themed rooms in the storage units, four different mazes and what we're calling the arena in the center of the maze. It's at least three times as big as last year."

She said 30 people volunteered to participate in the Haunted Trail. Inside the storage units, volunteers were dedicated to render some scares amidst the spooky environments created. And there were roughly five people in each of the five maze sections. Wildman said some Remix dancers were volunteering in the first section. She did not want to give a lot away on what awaits horror fans.

For younger children who are not fans of scary, Torres said they brought in a kid carnival. It is something which costs extra outside of the trail.

"The carnival is four, five different games, kid-friendly, out in the open and well-lit," she said. "It's not so scary, but still creepy, because that's the vibe."

A big lesson learned from 2025 is that it takes money to make money. Wildman said the activity is not cheap, so the more people who are brave enough to go through, the better.

"There hasn't been a community-led haunted house since the Jaycees," she said. "Angie wanted to do it last year as big as we are this year. We learned that the money went so fast that we have to know where to spend the money. Where we spent the money was on the lumber, which of course wasn't cheap this year because of everything going on. We still had to make the investment to make it safe and comfortable. We have 35 people out here in October three times. Last year, everyone was chilly and the costumes are not winter clothes. Six or seven of us left last year with horrible colds by the last night."

Torres said they also learned to not host the Haunted Trail on Friday nights, to avoid competing with football games. By having the trail on Saturday nights only, it is more likely to attract a higher number of teenagers.

Of course, none of it would have been possible without volunteers and their families lending a hand. Wildman's son helped with the building and organizing costumes.

"Our whole families were here last week. We brought food and we cooked and we painted and we built things," Torres said. "It's a family affair and we have community members who help – teachers, another nonprofit helping with the carnival."

EVENT INFORMATION:

Name: Nightmare Trail

Where: Remix Dance Academy

Address: 103 E. Linn St.

Dates: Saturdays, Oct. 24 and Oct. 31

Times: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Tickets: $10 for the kid carnival, $20 for the trail, $30 for both

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.

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