What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lawnmower Man
"The Lawnmower Man" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the May 1975 issue of Cavalier and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.
One summer, Harold Parkette is in need of a new lawn mowing service. The summer before, a neighbor's cat was accidentally killed when another neighbor's dog chased it under the mower. Harold has been putting off hiring new help for the summer, but when he sees an ad for a mowing service he calls. A van reading "Pastoral Greenery" soon pulls up to Parkette's home. The man working for the service, a hairy, pot-bellied fellow, is shown the overgrown back lawn and is hired. Harold is enjoying a rest as he reads the paper, wondering about the lawnmower man mentioning Circe, when he hears the lawnmower outside. Startled, he races to the back porch and sees the lawnmower running by itself and the naked lawnmower man following it on all fours and eating the grass. The lawnmower seemingly deliberately chases and kills a mole and Harold faints.
When Harold revives, the lawnmower man explains that this new method, introduced by his boss, grants substantial benefits, and that he makes sacrificial victims of customers who cannot appreciate the process. Parkette, though unnerved, allows the lawnmower man to return to work. As soon as the man is out of sight, Harold desperately calls the police, but is interrupted by the lawnmower man, who reveals his boss's name: Pan. The lawnmower briefly chases Harold through his living room before brutally slaughtering him.
When the police arrive, they conclude that Parkette was murdered and dismembered by a schizophrenic sex maniac. As they leave, the scent of freshly cut grass hangs strongly in the air.
One summer, Harold Parkette is in need of a new lawn mowing service. The summer before, a neighbor's cat was accidentally killed when another neighbor's dog chased it under the mower. Harold has been putting off hiring new help for the summer, but when he sees an ad for a mowing service he calls. A van reading "Pastoral Greenery" soon pulls up to Parkette's home. The man working for the service, a hairy, pot-bellied fellow, is shown the overgrown back lawn and is hired. Harold is enjoying a rest as he reads the paper, wondering about the lawnmower man mentioning Circe, when he hears the lawnmower outside. Startled, he races to the back porch and sees the lawnmower running by itself and the naked lawnmower man following it on all fours and eating the grass. The lawnmower seemingly deliberately chases and kills a mole and Harold faints.
When Harold revives, the lawnmower man explains that this new method, introduced by his boss, grants substantial benefits, and that he makes sacrificial victims of customers who cannot appreciate the process. Parkette, though unnerved, allows the lawnmower man to return to work. As soon as the man is out of sight, Harold desperately calls the police, but is interrupted by the lawnmower man, who reveals his boss's name: Pan. The lawnmower briefly chases Harold through his living room before brutally slaughtering him.
When the police arrive, they conclude that Parkette was murdered and dismembered by a schizophrenic sex maniac. As they leave, the scent of freshly cut grass hangs strongly in the air.
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1975
3 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,357 books890k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
August 21, 2022
Story 3 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
October 11, 2023
Yeah, Stephen King did drugs. 100% did drugs.
October 10, 2021
What the hell.
But I kind of liked it.
But I kind of liked it.
January 4, 2024
THIS WAS SO BIZARRE.
Not really sure what to think about this one: it was just so weird...
I like how unique and strange it is but there really wasn't a whole lot going for this story other than shock value. The narrative kept me engrossed and made me second guess what really happened at the end. Not sure I totally got it, but wow it was something else!
Worth checking out, I read this in the Night Shift collection.
Not really sure what to think about this one: it was just so weird...
I like how unique and strange it is but there really wasn't a whole lot going for this story other than shock value. The narrative kept me engrossed and made me second guess what really happened at the end. Not sure I totally got it, but wow it was something else!
Worth checking out, I read this in the Night Shift collection.
February 6, 2023
I, one day, hope to be as enthusiastic about my lawn
December 22, 2025
This was hilarious.
Harold Parkette hires a strange man from Pastoral Greenery and Outdoor Services Inc. to cut his lawn. The strange man indeed does a great job cutting his lawn, but in a horrifyingly silly way that makes everyone involved extremely uncomfortable and ends in bloody disastor. Let's just say the title Lawnmower Man is very literal. The mower ain't the only thing mowing around here.
Not scary and not that good of a story, but still pretty damn entertaining and funny just for how ridiculous it gets.
Harold Parkette hires a strange man from Pastoral Greenery and Outdoor Services Inc. to cut his lawn. The strange man indeed does a great job cutting his lawn, but in a horrifyingly silly way that makes everyone involved extremely uncomfortable and ends in bloody disastor. Let's just say the title Lawnmower Man is very literal. The mower ain't the only thing mowing around here.
Not scary and not that good of a story, but still pretty damn entertaining and funny just for how ridiculous it gets.
January 13, 2021
Just when you think King couldn’t possibly be more bizarre, he writes something like The Lawnmower Man. A man is in need of a lawn service. He hires someone. How could this be of the macabre? Well, the lawnmower mows by itself. And the titular lawnmower man? He’s fully naked, pendulous belly swaying as he eats the grass clippings.
It’s a profoundly bizarre premise that is absolutely unforgettable, though I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I’ll spare you the ending, but let me say that if you hire someone to mow your grass and they end up naked on all fours, just let them be. It’s safer that way. What in the world, Stephen? Are you all right?
As an aside, a movie was made called Stephen King’s Lawnmower Man and cited him as inspiration in the credits…but the movie was something completely different. King sued the filmmakers and won.
It’s a profoundly bizarre premise that is absolutely unforgettable, though I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I’ll spare you the ending, but let me say that if you hire someone to mow your grass and they end up naked on all fours, just let them be. It’s safer that way. What in the world, Stephen? Are you all right?
As an aside, a movie was made called Stephen King’s Lawnmower Man and cited him as inspiration in the credits…but the movie was something completely different. King sued the filmmakers and won.
December 1, 2019
*1.5
This one wasn't for me! I didn't think it was scary or creepy, at all. I didn't care about Harold Parkette . I definitely think that . I heard that this story is well-liked from some nonreaders in my life, so my expectations were too high for sure. A big no from me.
This one wasn't for me! I didn't think it was scary or creepy, at all. I didn't care about Harold Parkette . I definitely think that . I heard that this story is well-liked from some nonreaders in my life, so my expectations were too high for sure. A big no from me.
February 19, 2024
'The Lawnmower Man' by Stephen King.
Rating: 3.25/5.
Review:
WTAF?
I don't know if this was supposed to be scary, but it was absurd enough that it made me laugh out loud several times. It got disturbing really fast, though, especially with the lawnmower man's descriptions. Man, it was weird when he described his greenish pubic hair. For some reason, I envisioned the lawnmower man as a tall Phil from Disney's Hercules.
The ending was predictable to some extent, yet it was alarmingly gruesome. It did make me feel bad for the narrator, though. He met a brutal end and was later labeled as a sexual deviant by his neighbors and the police. The short story does make me wonder if he hadn't made the phone call to the authorities, would the lawnmower man have left him unscathed after finishing work on his garden? Or was the narrator's sacrifice always a part of the plan?
A friend told me that this short story was adapted into a movie, and now my sick mind wants to check it out just for the laughs.
But, seriously though, WTF Stephen King?
It was obscene.
It was a travesty.
The aged red power mower the fat man had brought in his van was running on its own. No one was pushing it; in fact, no one was within five feet of it. It was running at a fever pitch, tearing through the unfortunate grass of Harold Parkette's back lawn like an avenging red devil straight from hell. It screamed and bellowed and farted oily blue smoke in a crazed kind of mechanical madness that made Harold feel ill with terror. The overripe smell of cut grass hung in the air like sour wine.
But the lawnmower man was the true obscenity.
Rating: 3.25/5.
Review:
WTAF?
I don't know if this was supposed to be scary, but it was absurd enough that it made me laugh out loud several times. It got disturbing really fast, though, especially with the lawnmower man's descriptions. Man, it was weird when he described his greenish pubic hair. For some reason, I envisioned the lawnmower man as a tall Phil from Disney's Hercules.
The ending was predictable to some extent, yet it was alarmingly gruesome. It did make me feel bad for the narrator, though. He met a brutal end and was later labeled as a sexual deviant by his neighbors and the police. The short story does make me wonder if he hadn't made the phone call to the authorities, would the lawnmower man have left him unscathed after finishing work on his garden? Or was the narrator's sacrifice always a part of the plan?
A friend told me that this short story was adapted into a movie, and now my sick mind wants to check it out just for the laughs.
But, seriously though, WTF Stephen King?
April 28, 2024
every few years i remember this masterpiece exists
this time i shared it with my fiancé
this time i shared it with my fiancé
November 10, 2025
god bless the grass ig
February 15, 2024
This story is part of the Night Shift collection, and it is probably my least favorite story so far. The plot was not put together very well, and the antagonist featured here was exceptionally disturbing, but not in the way that benefits a short horror story. It's pretty rare for me to be disgusted by horror, but that was the case here. I would suggest skipping this one and saving your brain cells for a better story.
June 3, 2019
King throws up in your mind a fat naked man on fours eating grass. A green juice runs down his chin and drips on to his pendulous belly. Ew :D
The scene described above is what makes the story worth reading. However, even after consulting some Greek mythologies references, the major part of the story comes out of the blue without any explanation to what is happening.
The scene described above is what makes the story worth reading. However, even after consulting some Greek mythologies references, the major part of the story comes out of the blue without any explanation to what is happening.
December 26, 2018
Not a fan of this one. Too much mystery and tongue in cheek. You really needed to know some mythological facts to understand this story fully.
April 4, 2025
Better than the film.
July 25, 2025
als ze de film wel zoals het verhaal hadden gemaakt was het sws banger geweest😂
November 28, 2025
Weird weird imagination. Kinda gross too, like a dream you wake up from and think “I shouldn’t have eaten those takis before bed”
July 29, 2023
Some of these short stories seem so off the wall, I can't decide if they are great or just...Well...awful.
This is one. So a naked Lawnmower Man with hooves who works for Pan...there are hints to a giant mythos here that I'd love to have seen more of.
Instead we have a really odd story that I feel I never need to read again.
I'm aware of the film based on it. I cant tell if I'm curious or not to try it.
This is one. So a naked Lawnmower Man with hooves who works for Pan...there are hints to a giant mythos here that I'd love to have seen more of.
Instead we have a really odd story that I feel I never need to read again.
I'm aware of the film based on it. I cant tell if I'm curious or not to try it.
August 14, 2020
Definitely a weird one. I didn’t mind it though! Kind of like reading stories that are insanely bizarre. I’m not knowledgeable about the mythology behind this story, but I probably would like it more if I knew the references.
January 2, 2022
A not-for-vegans WTH just happened kind of story featuring a fat, naked lawnmower man that eats his greens but wipes out animals. I’m not surprised King sued successfully and won $2.5 million from the movie directors as this book is nothing like the film adaptation.
January 1, 2025
This story is absolutely nuts. It's so crazy I was laughing and had to tell my wife what was happening in the story, and she looked at me like I was crazy. Let's just summarize this by saying it involves someone with green pubic hair that eats grass.
February 7, 2018
Good thing I have a lawnmower man already. Shit.
July 24, 2018
Not one of King's best short stories. Kind of bizarre really.
January 18, 2026
Stephen King turns a basic chore into a grotesque nightmare in The Lawnmower Man. Harold Parkette is a relatable, lazy suburbanite who just wants his grass cut. He hires a man who shows up with a mower that runs itself and a disturbing habit of crawling naked behind it to eat the clippings. You feel the absurdity throughout this story, but in the best way. The story works because it takes a boring Saturday morning task and injects it with sudden, visceral violence. It makes no sense and it doesn’t have to.
I give this story two stars because it is completely ridiculous but undeniably fun to read. I quite liked how King doesn't bother with logic and instead leans into the gore and the weirdness of a grass-obsessed cultist. The ending hits hard when the lawnmower eventually turns its sights on Harold's living room. It is a strange, fast-paced tale that makes you rethink hiring a cheap contractor from an ad.
I give this story two stars because it is completely ridiculous but undeniably fun to read. I quite liked how King doesn't bother with logic and instead leans into the gore and the weirdness of a grass-obsessed cultist. The ending hits hard when the lawnmower eventually turns its sights on Harold's living room. It is a strange, fast-paced tale that makes you rethink hiring a cheap contractor from an ad.
April 11, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This book will probably not be for the majority of readers. Because it involves some disgusting, which even the die hard fans of saw movies wont handle that good as they think.
The main character which is Harold Parkette is a unique character which may be hard for some readers to reality to because of all these fucked up things he does throughout this book.
I need to give this story some points for the Greek mythologies references which this story has. However most of these references comes without any explanation to the Greek mythologies or what it has to do with the story.
This story also doesn’t give us a clear explanation to what is happening in this book. Which only confuses the reader for the most part.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This book will probably not be for the majority of readers. Because it involves some disgusting, which even the die hard fans of saw movies wont handle that good as they think.
The main character which is Harold Parkette is a unique character which may be hard for some readers to reality to because of all these fucked up things he does throughout this book.
I need to give this story some points for the Greek mythologies references which this story has. However most of these references comes without any explanation to the Greek mythologies or what it has to do with the story.
This story also doesn’t give us a clear explanation to what is happening in this book. Which only confuses the reader for the most part.
September 23, 2023
Trigger warning: animal cruelty. TWICE in this very short story.
An innocent man who just wants to sit down and have a beer and relax finally gives in and calls a lawn service to clean up his extremely overgrown yard.
A huge, disgusting, morbidly obese lawnmower man shows up with a self-propelled machine that cuts the grass and then he crawls naked behind it and eats the trimmings. WTF?
There are some hints to mythology but they aren't explored to offer any explanation of why. Was some evil nature god turned into a lawnmower? Why did the man eat the grass? Why was he so disgustingly fat? Did the neighbors not notice the massive lawnmower? I just don't know. I might have had a chuckle at the sheer stupidity of the story were it not for the animal cruelty.
An innocent man who just wants to sit down and have a beer and relax finally gives in and calls a lawn service to clean up his extremely overgrown yard.
A huge, disgusting, morbidly obese lawnmower man shows up with a self-propelled machine that cuts the grass and then he crawls naked behind it and eats the trimmings. WTF?
There are some hints to mythology but they aren't explored to offer any explanation of why. Was some evil nature god turned into a lawnmower? Why did the man eat the grass? Why was he so disgustingly fat? Did the neighbors not notice the massive lawnmower? I just don't know. I might have had a chuckle at the sheer stupidity of the story were it not for the animal cruelty.
January 13, 2019
Clever use of Greek mythology into modern (?) day horror, or at least horror at a time when the publication was modern, this was published back in 1975, which to today's day and age is a long time ago.
Honestly the whole trouble could have been avoided if he had just not called the Police, but in doing so made him become the sacrifice to Pan, Pan the Man.
Honestly the whole trouble could have been avoided if he had just not called the Police, but in doing so made him become the sacrifice to Pan, Pan the Man.
December 3, 2020
Since I am a fan of the movie that has no connection to this other than sharing the same title, I thought that maybe this would be a far superior story. Unfortunately, this story has nothing to do with the film, and I do not know why they even gave it the same name. For being as short as it is, this is just ok. I am sure without a doubt that King has written much better short stories than this.
May 26, 2024
This may be the strangest short story I've read by Stephen king so far. That being said I did like what I read and it was able to hold my attention for the most part. I wouldn't say it's his best short story that I've personally read, that goes to either the body or if it bleeds. But for a story that is from his first short story collection it's not too bad. I gave it 3 stars.
February 2, 2021
I can't even. Honestly. I thought this was so bizarre. I just had images of this fat naked guy who look a bit like Phil from Hercules but a lot freakier eating grass. It was so weird. I have no idea if it was Satanic, or what it was but it was very odd. I was left quite discombobulated.
2 of 5
2 of 5
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews