Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes is the thirty-fourth book in the original Goosebumps book series. It was first published in 1995.
The original cover illustration shows Hap and Chip posing in a garden.
Blurb
Someone's Been Stalking in My Garden!
Two pink flamingos. A whole family of plaster skunks. Joe Burton's dad loves those tacky lawn ornaments. But then he brings home two ugly lawn gnomes. And that's when the trouble starts. Late at night. When everyone's asleep. Someone's creeping in the garden. Whispering nasty things. Smashing melons. Squashing tomatoes. No way two dumb old lawn ornaments could be causing all the trouble. Is there?
Plot
Joe Burton and his sister, Mindy are playing a game of ping pong in their basement. The game halts when Moose McCall, Joe's neighbor and best friend, stops by for a visit. Joe and Moose share something in common: their fathers are both obsessed with gardening. The two men are in a constant rivalry over whose garden looks better. Now that Summer has arrived, Mr. McCall has been growing casaba melons, while Mr. Burton grows tomatoes. With the annual garden show right around the corner, the two adults are locked in a heated battle for first place, especially after Mr. Burton won the previous year. Mr. Burton thinks Mr. McCall is crazy for attempting to grow casabas, as the limited growing season in Minnesota won't allow them to develop properly.
The kids head outside, and Mindy sees their dog, Buster, digging in Mr. McCall's garden. Unfortunately, this is far from the first time he's done this; the dog seems to love digging holes and helping himself to the garden's many vegetables. Joe and his sister successfully lure Buster from the garden, but not before Mr. McCall steps out, and calls Joe over. Joe is terrified of Mr. McCall. The man is large and used to barking orders from his time in the army. Mr. McCall investigates his garden, and questions why the dirt is pawed up. Joe makes a quick excuse that maybe the wind did it, and Mindy smiles and promises Buster won't come near his garden again. This seems to please Mr. McCall, who threatens to send Buster to the pound if he catches him digging around again.
Joe and Mindy head back home when they are stopped by their father. He's distressed because there was a fruit fly on his prized tomato, which could ruin their changes of winning the garden show. Joe remembers some strong insecticide, they have which they use to spray all the tomatoes and other vegetables, and they kill the fruit fly.
To celebrate, Mr. Burton drags Joe and Mindy along on a trip to Lawn Lovely, a nearby store specializing in lawn ornaments. Mr. Burton loves decorating his garden and front yard with lawn ornaments, and can never have enough. There are plastic flamingos and a plastic deer, plaster skunks and kissing swans. He even goes as far as decorating the ornaments for holidays. Both Mindy and Mrs. Burton find the ornaments embarrassing, and Joe, pretends to like the ornaments for his father's sake, but secretly hates them as well. At Lawn Lovely, a pair of lawn gnomes catches their father's eyes. Mindy is repulsed at the sight of them, and Joe somewhat agrees. There's something unfriendly about their smiles, and their eyes seem cold. However, their father buys the two gnomes and names them Hap and Chip.
They walk back home and place Hap and Chip in the garden. Buster begins to examine the gnomes, licking their face and forcing Joe to lure him away with a dog whistle. To his surprise, Joe sees the expression of the gnome change from a grin to an open-mouthed expression of fear. Joe shouts and tells everyone what he's seen, but by the time they look at the gnome, the expression is back to the same smile. Buster rushes into Mr. McCall's garden again, and Mr. McCall catches him. Mr. Burton assures Mr. McCall that if Buster enters his garden one more time, they will tie him up. Joe insists that Buster hates being tied up, but both fathers are adamant about it.
The next morning, Joe wakes up to an angry Mr. McCall. He reveals to Joe and Mr. Burton that one of his casaba melons was smashed into pieces during the night. Mr. McCall blames Buster and both he and Mr. Burton demand that Joe tie Buster up in the backyard immediately. Joe reluctantly does so, although he knows Buster is innocent and grows angry at Mr. McCall, wishing there was a way to get back at him. Later, Moose comes over, and the two play ring toss using the gnome's pointy hats. As they play, Joe notices an orange seed sticking out of Chip's mouth, and struggles to find a proper explanation for it.
In the morning, the Burton family awakes to hear Mr. McCall screaming furiously. They go over to investigate, and Mr. McCall shows them that someone has drawn sloppy smile faces on his remaining casaba melons with black marker. Mindy reveals that she caught Joe sneaking out at night and that he told her he wanted to destroy the rest of Mr. McCall's melons. Mr. Burton furiously demands an explanation. Joe pleads his innocence, but is grounded for two weeks, one for vandalizing Mr. McCall's melons, and the other for lying. Mr. McCall threatens to sue the Burtons if the black doesn't come off.
Being grounded, and with nothing to do, Joe blames Mindy for snitching on him. Later, Joe notices black paint on the gnome's fingers. He once again witnesses the gnome's expressions change and comes to the conclusion that the gnomes must be alive. As Joe lies down on the grass he thinks he hears the gnomes whispering to him. He tries to tell his family about what he saw and heard, but they disregard his story as an unfunny joke.
After dinner, Mr. Burton finds his tomatoes destroyed all over the yard and grows enraged. Joe tells him the gnomes are to blame, and drags his Dad to them, only to discover absolutely no signs of tomato on the gnomes. Mr. Burton tells Joe off for continuing the unfunny jokes about the gnomes, and blames Mr. McCall for wrecking his tomatoes. The two men get into a heated argument about it, which ends with Mr. McCall disallowing Moose and Joe to hang out together anymore.
Later that night, Joe is restless thinking about the gnomes. He looks out his window and discovers the two of them are gone. He tries to wake up his parents and Mindy, but they seem fed up with his constant stories. Joe goes outside to prove his story, but Moose catches him, and he too thinks it's a joke. A moment later both their fathers catch them outside and bring them in. Joe insists to his father that the gnomes are still missing, and Mr. Burton, in disbelief, goes to look. To Joe's relief, his father sees that the gnomes are indeed gone. A moment later, it's revealed that the gnomes were there all along, and the fog was what was hiding them.
The next morning, Joe wakes up to find Mr. McCall's Jeep splattered in white paint. Moose, who's outside tells him that Mr. McCall has called the police, and will see to it that the culprit is imprisoned. Joe realizes that once the police investigate, he and Moose will be charged, as they were both at the scene of the crime when it happened. Determined to catch the gnomes in action and prove they were behind everything, Joe convinces Moose to help him set a trap for them that evening.
Hours pass spying on them, and the gnomes remain as still as statues. At the last second, the gnomes start to move and begin causing mischief, now spattering the Burton house with paint. Joe and Moose slowly follow the gnomes, but all the noise wakes up Buster. The dog barks and alerts the gnomes of their presence. They start to chase after Joe and Moose until the two reach the porch. They are stopped by Mindy, who is then grabbed by the gnomes and carried into the street.
Joe and Moose chase after the gnomes until they are eventually face to face with Hap and Chip. The gnomes tell the children they mean no harm, and only wanted to get their attention. They explain that they are Mischief Elves- that causing mischief is simply in their nature. They reveal that they were kidnapped from their native home and forced to work as lawn ornaments. They beg the children to help them free six other gnomes, who are trapped in the basement of Lawn Lovely- if they do, the gnomes promise they will leave, and cease their mischief forever. Joe, Moose and Mindy agree, and they follow the gnomes back to the store.
They make their way into the basement and discover the gnomes were lying to them. A horde of over 600 gnomes is waiting for them. The mob moves in on the three, promising that they are going to have so much fun. The gnomes chant over what they should do with their new prisoners. The three hear barking and realize Buster has followed them. The dog peeks his head, but quickly trots away, seemingly disinterested. Joe grabs his dog whistle to call Buster back, but the gnomes grab it from him.
After a quick scuffle between the kids and the gnomes, Joe manages to get the dog whistle back and blows it, to make Buster come back. Then, the gnomes freeze up in terror. Joe realizes the dog whistle is what the gnomes were afraid of all along. Hoping the gnomes are permanently frozen, the three escape the shop.
The next morning, their father is saddened at the apparent theft of the gnomes. Joe and Mindy are so happy though, they don't argue all day. That night, Joe's father buys, as a replacement, a large plaster gorilla which Joe's mother finds hideous. Joe and Mindy decide anything's better than the gnomes and tell their Dad they love it. Joe looks up at the gorilla and tells it to behave. In response, the gorilla winks at him.
Reprints and rereleases
| Book | Release date | Type | Media |
|---|---|---|---|
2003 - 2007 reprint series  |
June 2004 | Standalone | Paperback |
 |
April 2011 | Standalone | Paperback |
Target Reprints  |
2015 | Standalone | Target Paperback |
International releases
| Gallery | |
|---|---|
 UK  Italian  Portuguese  Greek  Spanish  Hebrew  Danish  Swedish  Swedish (Classic Goosebumps)  Italian (2016)  Italian (Compilation with The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and Beware, The Snowman) | |
Differences
- The UK releases usually use the American titles. However, for this book, it was retitled to Revenge of the Garden Gnomes.
- In Portugal, this is the thirty-fifth book in the original Goosebumps series.
- In the Portuguese adaptation of the story there are some notable differences:
- Joe and Mindy Burton are called 'Joel and Renata Brito'
- "Moose" McCall is called '"Morsa" Mendonça'
Merchandise
Adaptations
TV series
Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the eighth episode of season two, and the twenty-seventh episode overall.
Audiobooks
| Audiobook | Release date | Length | Narrated by | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1996 | 60 minutes | Justin Shenkarow | Walt Disney Records | |
|
December 2015 | 2 hours, 43 minutes | Maxwell Glick | Scholastic Inc. |
Goosebumps Graphix
Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes was adapted into a Goosebumps Graphix story in July 2007, as the first story in Scary Summer. It was illustrated by Dean Haspiel.
Artwork
Trivia
- The cover art by Tim Jacobus originally featured the gnome on the left picking his nose. Unhappy with the hand gesture, Scholastic asked Jacobus to adjust the gnome's hand and face. On Jacobus' website, you can purchase a sketch of this cover with the nose picking intact.
- When asked which Goosebumps books could've been better, R.L. Stine brought up Go Eat Worms! and this book, stating he wasn't happy with the writing.[1]
- Joe and Mindy's parents are Jeffrey and Marion Burton in the book and Moose's father is Bill McCall.
- Marion Burton was also the first mother to be mentioned by name in the books.
- The 1996 audiobook adaptation features voice work from Justin Shenkarow and Charlie Adler.
- This book references MTV.
References in other Goosebumps media
- In Deep in the Jungle of Doom, Cronby the Troll asks the reader questions about The Cuckoo Clock of Doom and this book.
- The Lawn Gnomes appear as antagonists in the film Goosebumps, and the original cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- The Lawn Gnomes appear in both Goosebumps: The Game and Goosebumps: Night of Scares as enemies.
- The gnomes appear in Goosebumps HorrorTown.
- Hap and Chip appear as minor antagonists in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.