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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.
Published January 1, 1975
About the author
Stephen King
2,074 books814k 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 21, 2022
Story 3 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator John Glover
October 10, 2021
What the hell.
But I kind of liked it.
But I kind of liked it.
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.
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.
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.
September 1, 2022
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.
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.
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.
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
January 16, 2020
This is the thirteenth story in Night Shift. It's quite disturbing for being only ten pages or so long.
June 23, 2020
Didn't go the way I thought it would
August 19, 2020
This isn’t great but I read it when I was a kid and the unusual story really sparked my imagination.
October 3, 2020
To be honest, this is a pretty stupid story; probably the weakest of an otherwise nearly stellar collection in Night Shift.
November 17, 2020
This was a good short story. Equally gross and weird.
December 8, 2020
Classic Stephen King- but one I had never read before!
February 21, 2021
That was WILD. Listened as an audiobook and felt quite disturbed
June 18, 2021
Why does this short story have such a low rating? Sure, it's not scary but it's a hoot! I really enjoyed it. It was fun and original.
October 27, 2021
Worth reading if you're a big fan, it's only ten pages long. Not a deep or compelling story at all, just very strange.
November 5, 2021
Just okay. Nothing standout. Decent narration.
November 25, 2021
It’s not that this story was bad, but it was just dumb, and over the top.
December 24, 2021
Very short. Not able to get into the plot if there was one.
January 3, 2022
grassy pubes is a very scary image
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2022
I'll never get back the time I spent reading this.....SMH.
March 19, 2022
Takes cutting the lawn from a summertime chore to a whole schizo, weird, awkward situation. Creative short story but definitely stranger than most SK.
March 20, 2022
"Where's the rest of him?"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews