A spinning vortex room at the Green Center Haunted School custom made by precision machinists delivers high tech fantasy and a surreal experience that is well worth the price of admission.

The vortex was designed by employees of Pro Systems in Churubusco. A suspended bridge offers a way out, but once on the bridge, as the lights flash and the room seems to spin in endless circles, visitors lose their balance and become disoriented and unsteady on their feet.

The vortex got a big “thumbs up” from everyone who toured the Haunted School on opening night.

“It was awesome,” said one enthusiastic teen, who came out the exit door and got right back in line to go through a second time. 

The Green Center Haunted School was started in 1982 by Bill and Betty Pappe, Green Township residents, as a fundraiser for the Green Township Community Center, which is where the Haunted School is housed.

The vortex was built by engineers at Pro Systems and is a surreal and dizzying experience well worth the price of admission.

“This one fundraiser pays for the heating and utility bills to keep the center running for the rest of the year,” Bill Pappe said, while wearing a blood-splattered apron and taking a break from cooking body parts in the school cafeteria.

Helping Bill and Bette Pappe out are co-managers of the Haunted House, Gary and Rick McDowell. There is no shortage of volunteers who will gladly spend the night scaring the daylights out of strangers and friends and neighbors alike. 

Twenty-six years ago the building started out as the Green Center Haunted House, but about five years ago made the natural transition to a haunted school, Pappe said.

Admission is $8, and visitors can go the the Haunted School’s Web site - see below - and print a coupon good for $1 off the admission price.

The cafeteria chef - aka Bill Pappe - offers some finger fries.

Bodies arising from the grave - rotting corpses in caskets - bloody body parts - there are plenty of old fashioned thrills, chills, ghouls and monsters. But the amount of work the Pappes and McDowells have put into the facility is really apparent in the high tech rooms that play with visitors’ minds and equilibrium.

There’s a steep upward climb on slanted stairs that are at times impossible to maneuver. And, there’s the White Room - bright white walls and lights and a fog machine that emits a continuous, thick white mist that makes it nearly impossible for visitors to find the way out.

Several other rooms of terror make for a terrifying 30-45 minute haunted tour of the school.

Night of the Living Dead? Two ghastly looking creatures - aka Joe Reef and Justin Konger - arrive at the Green Center Haunted School in time for classes of a different nature.

Gary McDowell greets visitors in a mask as the principal of the school. Bill Pappe later greets them in the cafeteria where he serves up finger fries and lump of leg.

This haunted site is a must-see, must-experience.

The Green Township Community Center is located at the corner of C.R. 300E and 300S in Noble County, accessible by U.S. 33 and S.R. 9.

The Haunted School is open Oct. 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 and the 31 from 7-11 p.m. each night.

For more on the Green Center Haunted School, or a map, or to print a $1 off discount coupon, go to hauntedgreencenter.com.

Photos and story by Viv Sade.

Remember this bully? Good grief - is he still riding the bus?

The principal of Green Center Haunted School - a close friend of Gary McDowell - greets visitors in his office.

Two ghouls lurk in the bushes of the Green Center Haunted School.

Salad anyone?

The water cooler in the principal\'s office seems to be keeping an eye - or two - out for wayward students.

Looks like a nasty accident. Or was it an accident?

The dead emerge from the bowels of the Green Center Haunted School.

A cafeteria guest.

Welcome aboard the Green Center Haunted School bus.

Bill Pappe in the vortex - a thrilling high tech experience you won\'t forget.

Betty Pappe mans the admission booth.