The Clown Motel

Tonopah, Nevada

Spending the night in Tonopah's Clown Motel could qualify as a true test of courage. Not because of any accommodation shortcomings, but because it's full of clowns. Big clowns, small clowns, happy clowns, creepy clowns. There are clowns on the doors, shelves of clown dolls and collectibles in the lobby, clown paintings on the walls of the rooms. And if you have a room on the second floor, you can look out from the balcony and see why the motel is so quiet -- and dark at night. It's the cemetery. That's right; the Clown Motel stands next to Tonopah's dusty, unlit cemetery, closed for over a hundred years, packed with the graves of miners in this former Boom Town who died unpleasantly.

Should that be cause for panic? Probably not. But if you've ever seen the movie Poltergeist, and you do spend a night at this unique lodge, consider that maybe, just maybe, the land beneath your room might be full of the graves of men who died horrible deaths. The motel wasn't opened until 1990, so you never know.

Current Clown Motel owner Hame Anand bought the motel in 2017 because he loves clowns. He lives in one of the rooms, and has reassured visitors worried about the change of ownership that he plans to increase the clown population.