Top 10: Scary Motels #1

Last Updated on July 27, 2021

This week’s list idea comes courtesy of AITH’s own Yao Ming – Ammon Gilbert. Dude hit me up a couple weeks back with the concept of scariest motels and my immediate reaction was – genius.

Now just to be clear, we’re talking mo-tels here. Not hotels, not hostels, not sleepy little out of the way houses. Just those wonderful places dotted along the highways and byways of any good road trip. Of course these are not the AAA rated brand. Hell, some of them don’t even have names.

So while there are many good things that go down in motels – hookers, drug deals, underage prom parties – this list is populated with instances where things get a little messy in less than fun ways.

If I miss your favorite road stop then make sure to spit bullets on where you like to stay below.

WARNING – GOOD REASONS TO STAY AT MOTEL 6 AHEAD!

10. Mountaintop Motel, MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE

Former insane asylum resident takes over a little scenic retreat and starts offing guests? Tasty. Sure there’s some obtuse attempts at killing to start with, but fear not because a sickle eventually comes into play. As deadly proprietors go, Evelyn is A-OK with me.

9. Roy’s Motel and Cafe, THE HITCHER

So much of what makes The Hitcher a great movie is not the big crazy moments, but the small moments when things have a chance to settle, and thus build. You find yourself with the characters realizing, Holy shite, this is really happening and it’s not going to end any time soon. So as you see, part of the genius of Eric Red is that while you think you’re getting a breather, he’s just setting you up to be completely and thoroughly f*cked.

8. Unnamed Oklahoma Motel, BUG

Anybody see this movie and not feel itchy afterwards? I know that I’m never stopping off at a motel in Oklahoma for any reason. Sure the flick, despite it’s marketing, wasn’t strictly horror, but it was definitely horrific and I can’t think of any time that I’ve found the thought of a roadside stopover much less appealing.

7. Halfway Travel Oasis, REEKER

The classic fear with an out of the way motel is that you’re going to get dirty sheets, nasty bathrooms and a general feeling of grime and decrepitude when you stay at one. Reeker of course takes it to the next level by essentially attacking the protagonists along with the audience utilizing rot and filth to excellent effect. Travel Oasis my ass.

6. Kahiki Palms Motel (Thanks Freddy!), THE DEVIL’S REJECTS

Not so much scary as just creepy and unsettling, the motel scene in TDR is easily one of the most uncomfortable scenes I’ve ever watched in a movie of this type. It’s so matter of fact and yet brutally mean. If you know anybody who likes this bit then run away fast. If you know anybody who gets turned on by it then go ahead and give the police a heads up. Of course that’s not to say that the chick forced to wear her boyfriend’s face as a mask before getting splattered by a truck isn’t hilarious.

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!