Welcome to the Clown Motel – ‘America’s scariest motel’ and home to a 5,000-strong clown collection. Just make sure you’re prepared for purported 7ft uninvited guests in the middle of the night
Anyone looking for a good night’s rest while travelling in Nevada may do well to avoid the Clown Motel.
Although certainly memorable, anyone who has ever sat through a screening of Stephen King’s It will likely sleep with one eye open should they ever find themselves bunking down in one of the motel’s 31 unique rooms.
Located in the former mining town of Tonopah, approximately three hours outside of Las Vegas, this ‘world-famous’ landmark is positively filled to the brim with clown figurines – 5,000 to be exact.
Oh, and to make visitors’ stays all the more disquieting, the Clown Motel is situated slap bang in front of Tonopah Cemetery, a supposed ghostly hot spot swathed in local myth and mystery.
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Those with a mortal fear of clowns might do well to put their foot firmly on the pedal and drive on by, but for braver souls, a truly one-of-a-kind travelling experience awaits…
Indeed, as per the official website, the Clown Motel is “the first choice for Ghost Hunters, Paranormal Investigators, Spooky Fun lovers, YouTubers, Horror Filmmakers, Clown Lovers, and more”.
The motel first opened its doors way back in 1985 with a collection of ‘just’ 150 clowns. Leona and Leroy David built the property in memory of their clown-loving father, who is buried in the adjacent Tonopah Cemetery, and decided to use his impressive collection as a theme. Since then, things have continued to grow and evolve.
The establishment prides itself on being ‘America’s scariest motel’, as evidenced in the range of creatively named spooky rooms.
Drawing from horror movie history, guests – whether they’re there to commune with the dead or simply bed down for the night – can choose to stay in The Exorcist room, the Chucky room, or the Halloween room -all decked out, of course, with plenty of eerie artwork.
Whether you’ll be left laughing or screaming by the time the night’s through remains to be seen. However, Tripadvisor reviews left by previous patrons offer some idea of what’s in store.
One happy customer wrote: “We had good fun, and even better, we weren’t murdered. Not even a little bit murdered. The guy at the front desk is excellent. Truly excellent. We’d certainly come back someday. Did I mention that no clowns murdered us? They didn’t even try. #HadFun #NotMurdered.”
Another enthused: “We stayed in the IT room and had a blast! They offered an EMF reader, and we had fun looking for spirits in the old graveyard. This was a fun experience and we will remember it for a long time to come!”
Now, any bumps in the night will likely be due to nerves rather than any red-nosed terrors lurking under your bed.
However, there are those who are convinced that something otherworldly stalks its candy-striped corridors.
According to the Las Vegas Ghost Tours website, those who’ve slept in room 108, which features a life-size mural of Pennywise, have reported inexplicable encounters, while a mischievous spirit referred to as ‘The Trickster’ is believed to move belongings around, and may even make them vanish completely.
As well as disembodied voices and disquieting scratching sounds, some guests swear to having woken to the sight of a 7-foot-tall clown standing ominously at the foot of their bed, while others claim to have answered knocks on their door, only to find there’s nobody on the other side.
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