TONOPAH, Nev. — Just over the California border in the little mining town of Tonopah, Nevada, is a themed motel that prides itself on scaring its guests. It’s called the Clown Motel and owner Vijay Mehar says his guests actually book a room expecting to be scared.
“Yes, this is the clown motel and it is the scariest motel in the United States,” said Mehar. “Everything we do is according to the clown.”
The whole clown theme has been a solid business model since 1985. Before Mehar bought the place, Leona and Lero David built the motel in memory of their father, Clarence Dave, who collected clown memorabilia for some reason. After Clarence’s death, his kids decorated the motel with the clowns.
“We counted five years ago and today there are 5,333 clowns,” said Mehar.
Each one of the 31 rooms is decorated with disturbing clown memorabilia but for most guests, the scariest part of the motel is the cemetery next door.
“It’s the only motel in the state that’s next to a cemetery,” said Mehar.
Touring the old Tonopah miner’s cemetery is just one of the amenities at the motel, but you may be asking yourself, who in their right mind would want to stay here?
“It’s pretty creepy but exciting,” said Clown Motel guest Courtney Smith.
The New Yorker is on a solo road trip across the country. Smith chose to come here to look for ghosts because the motel provides guests with an EMF reader, which is basically a digital ghost tracker, according to her.
“When the light goes off yellow, it means ghosts are in the room. When it turns red, that means they are on top of you. It turned red when I was in the bathroom,” said Smith.
Most people would probably pack up and leave. Not Smith. She went out to the graveyard and took some pictures with her phone. Several of those pictures contained blurry white orbs as she described them.
“Those are just spirits kind of wandering,” said Smith.
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Smith only stayed one night. Keith and Althea Hall on the other hand are here every day cleaning the motel and yes, they too have some ghost stories.
“I can feel them sometimes on the back of my neck right here,” said Althea Hall.
Not a week goes by that the husband-and-wife cleaning duo don’t hear a strange voice, see items inexplicably knocked over or feel a strange presence.
“Yes, I'm a big guy that got scared. No doubt about it. I’ve never been through anything like that before, but then you get used to it,” said Keith Hall.
It's probably no surprise the horror movie industry capitalized on the Clown Motel, but what may surprise you is how many movies have been filmed here.
“In the last five years, we averaged one movie and on average there is a movie made every year and YouTubers come every two weeks along with paranormal seekers,” said Mehar.
The extensive list of movies and TV shows provide a constant stream of advertising for the Clown Motel but when Mehar bought the place five years ago, he had never heard of it.
“We wanted nothing about the clowns. We wanted to change the name,” said Mehar.
After staying one night at the motel, Mehar and his family realized the clowns were the sole reason why people from all over the world were staying here.
“I will say it was a miracle. I realized the value of the clown,” said Mehar.
You may not get room service or a continental breakfast at the Clown Motel, but you will have an unforgettable experience.
MORE UNIQUE MOTELS ON THE BACKROADS: The classic Route 66 Wigwam Motel is an unforgettable place to rest your head.
