The Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes

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Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes
Author	R. L. Stine
Cover artist	Tim Jacobus
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Goosebumps
Genre(s)	Horror fiction, Children's literature
Publisher	Scholastic
Publication date	August 1995
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	119 p.
ISBN	0-590-48346-3
Preceded by	The Horror at Camp Jellyjam
Followed by	A Shocker on Shock Street

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes is written by R.L. Stine and is the 34th novel in the Goosebumps series. Also known as Revenge of the Garden Gnomes in the UK.

[edit] Plot Summary

Joe Burton's dad collects lawn ornaments. When Mr. Burton gets two new, scary-looking lawn ornaments, trouble starts to happen, such as melons being squished and a car ruined. Joe and his sister Mindy finally catch the no good lawn gnomes. That is when the lawn gnomes trick Mindy and Joe into thinking that the gnomes are actually elves that cause trouble. Chip and Hap (the lawn gnomes) take Mindy and Joe to the store where Joe's dad purchased them. There are actually more gnomes and they attack Mindy, Joe, and Moose (Joe's friend). Joe then realizes that a dog whistle hurts the gnomes' ears from earlier in the story. Joe then blows a whistle which destroys all of the lawn gnomes. Joe, Mindy, and Moose then escape not telling others about this event. Later, Mr. Burton purchases a plastic gorilla to put in his garden, and it winks at Joe.

[edit] TV Episode

The TV version of the book was altered when compared to the original version. The character Richard the evil gnome is completely removed, and their neighbor, Mr. McCall, is rewritten to bear more of a resemblance to R. Lee Ermey. In the end, McCall tries to take one of the gnomes after he finds Joe and Mindy in his garden and thinks they are playing a prank. The gnome then comes to life and turns McCall into a lawn gnome as well. Joe's dog and his friend, "Moose" McCall, are completely cut out of the episode. In the book, Mr. McCall is said to be friendly to Mr. Burton, but in the TV show, he's cold and militant to his neighbors.

Mindy and Joe also discover that the gnomes are paralyzed by bright light, not the sound of a dog whistle.