Coulrophobia. According to Merriam-Webster, it means "abnormal fear of clowns." And coulrophobia isn't the only reason this clown-themed motel, less than eight hours from Boise has been named America's Scariest Motel.

The Clown Motel is located in Tonopah, Nevada, an old mining town between Reno and Las Vegas. When the Clown Motel opened in 1985, it had a collection of 150 clowns, mainly in the lobby. Today, the collection is well over 2,000 clowns spread all over the property. The collection has expanded from former guests or random people sending clowns to the motel. Some clowns may have even been shipped because the previous owner believed them to be possessed by an evil spirit.

Not only does the Clown Motel have a clown-themed lobby, but each room has a minimum of two pieces of clown art. Not all of the clowns are happy, fun clowns either. They have rooms themed after horror franchises like It, The Exorcist, Halloween, and Friday the 13th. Other rooms are decorated with friendlier clowns, but it seems that those are the rooms that have the most paranormal activity.

What kind of ghosts would haunt a Clown-themed motel? While some guests claim to have experienced ghostly clowns peering through their windows at night or floating at the foot of their bed, most experience hauntings by miners from the early 1900s. That makes a lot of sense because the Clown Motel is located next door to a cemetery considered one of the country's most paranormally active cemeteries. The paranormal activity, the creepy clowns, and its location in a small town combine to give the motel the designation of America's Scariest Motel.

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