What's scarier than a clown-themed hotel? How about one built next to an ANCIENT GRAVEYARD? This isn't the setting of a shit horror film (although one was being made), but the story of the Clown Motel, an iconic hotel in the middle of nowhere... that overlooks a graveyard packed with the bodies of 300 miners.
You can stay at the Clown Motel for about £30-a-night - which means that if the 1,000+ clown figures and dolls who live there were paying the going rate, the owner would be able to easily get enough cash together to escape.
Back in 2017, there was a rare opportunity to buy America's creepiest motel when then-owner Bob Perchetti put it on the market. He said it was as he wanted to spend more time with his grandkids, and definitely not as he was terrified to go to work.
In fact, he liked being stared at by clowns all day!
Bob, who ran the Clown Motel for 22 years, told local news station KLAS: "It's [been] called the scariest motel in the U.S. I love clowns. I've never had a problem with clowns."
Located next to an old cemetery in the former mining town of Tonopah, Nevada, the 31-room hotel is often booked out. It attracts local miners, ghost hunters, clown fans (yes, they do exist), and people who have made a decision to visit after seeing it on creepy websites.
The motel's clown residents - which range from thimble-sized to 6ft tall - used to belong to Bob's business partner.
He said: "He had a house full of clowns, and he decided to bring the clowns up and put them to work."
It's not known how he came to amass a collection of hundreds of clowns of various size, shape and spookiness, but Bob decided that they would be the ideal fit for their new business.
Every room is rammed full of clowns - some even are suspended from the ceiling - and it's said that some guests are forced to cover them with towels before they go to sleep as they can't relax with so many eyes on them.
It was on the market back in '17 for $900k (about £706k), but there were conditions that came with the sale.
The new owner of the motel had to agree to keep the motel as it is, as the clowns' safe keeping were part of the deal - and Bob vowed to check in regularly to make sure they were being looked after and exactly where he left them.
He added: "Oh, I'm going to miss the clowns. I'm going to come back. I'm going to come back and visit my clowns."
Astoundingly, he DID manage to sell the motel to someone else as mad about clowns as him.
Hame Anand paid $800k for the motel in 2019. Originally from India, he has been obsessed with clowns since he was 14.
He brought 200 of his own clowns with him to the sprawling Nevada motel, and received 500 more 'donations' from fans.
Showing he really is the perfect new caretaker for this little corner of madness, he said: “I eat, sleep and drink only clowns."
YIKES!
