Blog Post: The Clown Motel – Where Nightmares Meet the Nevada Desert

By Juniper Ravenwood

🎭 A Creepy Oasis in Tonopah

Picture this: a dusty Nevada highway 🛣, the sun setting 🌅 over the barren desert 🌵, and a garish red-and-white motel glowing under a neon sign ✨ plastered with clowns 🤡. Welcome to the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada — a place that’s equal parts kitsch 🎪 and terror 💀.

In Episode 178 of The Shadow Frequency, “Clowns and Graves Whisper Secrets,” we dove headfirst 🏊‍♀️ into this paranormal hotspot 👻, and let me tell you, it’s a wild ride 🎢. With over 6,000 clown figurines staring you down 👀 and the Old Tonopah Cemetery ⚰ just steps away, this motel isn’t for the faint of heart ❤️‍🩹. Let’s unpack why this place has earned its title as “America’s Scariest Motel.”

📜 A Haunting History

The Clown Motel was born in 1985 when siblings Leona and Leroy David built it to honor their father, Clarence David, a miner ⛏ who died in a Belmont Mine Fire 🔥 (accounts vary between 1911 and 1942). Clarence was a clown enthusiast 🤡, amassing 150 figurines, which his kids used to decorate the motel’s lobby 🏨, right next to the cemetery where he’s buried ⚰.

Since then, the collection has exploded 💥 to thousands, with current owner Vijay Mehar and CEO Hame Anand adding creepy clowns 👀, some rumored to carry curses 🪬. The motel’s proximity to the Old Tonopah Cemetery — active from 1901 to 1911 — adds to the unease 😨.

The cemetery holds about 300 graves 🪦, including victims of the 1905 Tonopah Plague ☠ (a brutal pneumonia outbreak that killed 56 people in hours) and the 1911 Belmont Mine Fire 🔥, where 17 miners — including hero William “Big Bill” Murphy — perished. These restless spirits 👻, some say, wander into the motel, making it a paranormal playground 🎢.

👻 Ghostly Encounters and Clownish Terrors

Guests at the Clown Motel don’t just check in 🛎 for a quirky stay — they often leave with stories 📖 that’ll keep you up at night 🌙.

Reports include:

• Disembodied voices 🗣 whispering “we mined” or “we died that day”

• Flickering lights 💡

• Apparitions drifting between the cemetery and motel 🪦🏨

Room 108, the “IT” room 🎈 with a Pennywise mural, once housed an elderly man who claimed a spirit eased his pain — until he died en route to a hospital 🏥.

Room 107, the “Fear Unlimited” room 😱, was shuttered for years after multiple deaths 💀, with guests hearing furniture dragged across empty floors 🪑.

A seven-foot-tall clown spirit 🎭 has been spotted watching guests sleep 😨, and a life-sized clown doll 🤡 moved on camera 📹 during a 2015 Ghost Adventures episode, freaking out host Zak Bagans 😱.

Some believe the clowns act as vessels 🪬 for the miners’ spirits, a theory tied to Pueblo Native American traditions of clown-like figures channeling spirits 🔮.

🤔 The Skeptic’s Take

Now, I’m all about diving into the spooky 👻, but could some of this be the power of suggestion 💭? You’re surrounded by thousands of eerie clown faces 👀, sleeping next to a graveyard ⚰ — your mind might conjure a ghost or two.

The motel’s age 🏨 and desert winds 🌬 could explain some creaks and groans. Still, the sheer volume of consistent reports 📚 — shadowy figures, voices, objects moving — makes it hard to dismiss entirely. Whether it’s miners like Clarence David or something darker 🌑 tied to the clowns, the Clown Motel thrives on its eerie allure 😈.

🏆 Why It’s a Must-Visit

The Clown Motel leans hard into its haunted reputation 👻, offering EMF meters 📟 for ghost hunting and themed rooms 🎬 like Friday the 13th and The Exorcist.

Owners are aiming for a Guinness World Record 🏅 with their ever-growing clown collection 🤡, and plans for a haunted house attraction 🎃 are in the works. Whether you’re a paranormal enthusiast 🔍 or just love a good scare 😱, this place delivers.

As we shared in Episode 178, listener Julie from Nevada 💌 tipped us off to this gem 💎, and it’s no wonder why — it’s a one-of-a-kind experience that’ll leave you laughing 😂 or sleepless 🌙.

Want to share your own spooky story? 📧 Email us at shadowpodcast@protonmail.com or join the conversation 💬 on our socials.

Until then… would you dare to stay a night? 😈

Signed,
Juniper Ravenwood