Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes is a book by R.L. Stine. It was first published by Scholastic in 1995. It was released in the UK as Revenge of the Garden Gnomes.

It is the thirty-fourth book in the original Goosebumps book series. The original cover illustration shows gnomes Chip and Hap posing in a garden.

Summary
Twelve-year-old Joe Burton serves the ping pong ball by kicking it instead of using the paddle, much to his older sister Mindy's chagrin. He then tells her there's a spider on her back. Joe reveals that he doesn't look like anyone else in the family. They're all tall and skinny and he's short and stout. Shortly after arriving in the rec room, Joe's friend, Michael "Moose" McCall, sits on Joe's chest. Moose lives next door. His father and Joe's father have a running rivalry involving the produce they grow in their gardens.

Mr. McCall has it out for Joe's dog Buster, as the mutt has an affinity for trampling into the McCall's garden and digging it up. Mr. McCall comes out in a rampage and threatens the children and their dog. Joe pulls out his trusty dog whistle and Buster slinks back into the Burton's yard. Joe's dad thinks it would be a fine time to visit Lilah, the little old lady down the block, as she sells gardening supplies from the first floor of her three-story house. TJoe's dad loves lawn ornaments, even going so far as to dress-up the plaster deer and flamingos on his lawn for the holidays. Joe's mother however hates the lawn ornaments and finds them embarrassing.

Joe's dad spies two darling little lawn gnomes and instantly purchases the small plaster men. Mindy warns that the lawn gnomes look evil. Joe's father ignores such frightful talk and cheerfully names the little guys Chip (because his tooth is chipped) and Hap (because he's so happy looking). Walking back home with the gnomes in hand, Joe thinks he sees Hap change its expression from a cheery grin to a grim scowl.

Strange and horrible things start to happen to Mr. McCall's lawn, and Buster the dog keeps getting blamed. The suspicion quickly turns from the dog to Joe when Mr. McCall awakes one morning to find someone has drawn smiley faces on his prized casaba melons. Joe is immediately suspected of the deed. Joe pleads his innocence and even brings in evidence of the real perpetrators: there's black paint underneath one of the gnome's hands and a melon seed between his lips.

Joe becomes convinced that the gnomes are responsible and talks Moose into staking out the two houses to catch the lawn ornaments in the act. The two hide across the street. Eventually, the gnomes do come to life and start their terrorizing. The giggling men start splashing big buckets of paint against the exterior of Joe's house. A confrontation between the gnomes and the children breaks out. Mindy shows up and one of the gnomes drags her into the street by her hair. The gnomes suddenly get very serious and reveal that they are Mischief Gnomes who were kidnapped from their native forest and sold into slavery. The gnomes say that they can't help causing trouble, it's in their nature. If the three kids will help rescue their friends being held at the garden supply store, Chip and Hap promise to leave forever. The kids agree and make their way to the old woman's house.

The other kidnapped ornaments are supposedly in Lilah's basement. Hap and Chip would have freed them alone but they weren't able to get in the basement window. Now with the help of the children, they'll be able to free their six gnome friends. The kids lower the gnomes into the dark basement and follow behind. Once inside, they see that they've been tricked. There aren't six other gnomes. There're six hundred.

The hordes of gnomes come to life and start attacking the children. Some want to tickle an unwilling Mindy. Other gnomes want to use the children as trampolines or play tug of war with their bodies. The children are upset about being tricked. Luckily, Joe remembers how gnomes are scared of dogs and so he whistles for Buster. But it turns out gnomes aren't scared of dogs; they're scared of dog whistles. All of the gnomes freeze into place as soon as Joe blows the trinket. Joe's dad, distraught from mysteriously losing his two lawn gnomes, brings home an eight-foot plaster gorilla for the garden. Joe says "I think it's a beauty, Dad. It's the best looking lawn gorilla I ever saw." Then the gorilla winks.

Trivia

 * This book was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps television series, the eighth episode of season two, and the twenty-seventh overall episode of that series.
 * It was released as an audiobook in 1996, and rereleased in 2015.
 * It was adapted into the first story in Scary Summer, a Goosebumps Graphix graphic novel.
 * Chip and Hap also appear in the films, Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2, and in Goosebumps: The Game.