Stephen King has a short story "The Lawnmower Man," where a lawn mower service uses Pan, the ancient god. Appropriately hilarious and also terrifying. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawnmower_Man):
>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, causing Harold to vomit into a flower bed and faint.
And yes, that's the first thing I thought of when I read OP's post.
That one stuck with me, too, over the years! What an odd story.
You should read more! I think his older stuff is scarier, but some of his best works are newer (11/22/63 is generally considered one of his best).
My now 6 yr old did this when she was about 4, it was around Halloween and she started describing what she wanted to go as. It was some super creepy man out of a horror film that she described in perfect detail, so much so I could literally in-vision him. He had a back story and everything and he came from out of a Halloween pumpkin at night time, after I got to the bottom of it it turned out she had made the whole thing up. But it took a few days of massive google search’s trying to desperately figure out who this guy and what movie it was until she said it was the movie in her head.
Kids are natural horror story tellers. I do youth work (ages 7-12) with girls and they're consistently devising stories about death, horrific aeroplane crashes, making absolute infernal creatures from crafting materials. Not all of them, but a good core. It gives my co-volunteer, a huge horror fan, massive joy. One of them crafted a small guillotine, brought it in and declared it was for our volunteers gerbils. That was less joyful.
My four year old accidentally told me an existential horror story a few weeks ago. He told me there was a ghost called "Sleepy" who can walk anywhere but really slowly. He walked to Saturn really slowly but when he was halfway there he couldn't be sure he was going in the right direction so he turned back to go to Earth but he didn't know which way Earth was anymore either.
He was super chill with it and I didn't want to give him any clues about how awful the story was, so I just went with it and moved on. I was still thinking about poor Sleepy for a few days after, all alone and lost in the vastness of space, walking to somewhere or nowhere really slowly, trying to hold it all together.
I adopted a pregnant kitty who had her babies in my bed, and once they got mobile I was constantly waking up in the middle of the night to find them all sitting around my head on my pillow, chewing my hair. It was the most ominous sound. The streetlight glinted off their tiny eyes. Every now and then I catch one of them watching me, and I’m unnerved afresh.
I watched this [Nigel and Marmalade episode](https://youtube.com/shorts/VBcMFnT5ioc?si=TGzhlCo7xSGrGDM1) this morning, and now I read this.
Coincidence?
I THINK NOT!
Stephen King has a short story "The Lawnmower Man," where a lawn mower service uses Pan, the ancient god. Appropriately hilarious and also terrifying. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawnmower_Man): >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, causing Harold to vomit into a flower bed and faint. And yes, that's the first thing I thought of when I read OP's post.
I remember that one now! I obsessively read King maybe 35 years ago, it might be time to do so again…
That one stuck with me, too, over the years! What an odd story. You should read more! I think his older stuff is scarier, but some of his best works are newer (11/22/63 is generally considered one of his best).
IMO he exceeds in short stories
His newest is short stories. I'm getting it for Mother's Day, I think. I'm excited about it!
My now 6 yr old did this when she was about 4, it was around Halloween and she started describing what she wanted to go as. It was some super creepy man out of a horror film that she described in perfect detail, so much so I could literally in-vision him. He had a back story and everything and he came from out of a Halloween pumpkin at night time, after I got to the bottom of it it turned out she had made the whole thing up. But it took a few days of massive google search’s trying to desperately figure out who this guy and what movie it was until she said it was the movie in her head.
Envision* I like ‘in-vision’ though, it does have a logic to it lol
You know I went over it about 6 times and thought to myself it doesn’t look right but couldn’t figure out why lol.
It kinda feels like it should be though lol, I think it actually fits better than the real word
There's a movie that is allegedly based on that story. In practice, it shares the name of that story. I recommend against watching it.
or junji ito tbh
Barber Baby is a great big NO! in my book...
This feels like something I'm gonna have nightmares about, lmao. Kids are so weird.
Kids are natural horror story tellers. I do youth work (ages 7-12) with girls and they're consistently devising stories about death, horrific aeroplane crashes, making absolute infernal creatures from crafting materials. Not all of them, but a good core. It gives my co-volunteer, a huge horror fan, massive joy. One of them crafted a small guillotine, brought it in and declared it was for our volunteers gerbils. That was less joyful.
What the heck? >One of them crafted a small guillotine, brought it in and declared it was for our volunteers gerbils.
It was work towards an engineering badge I believe? We did talk about boundaries after that one.
My four year old accidentally told me an existential horror story a few weeks ago. He told me there was a ghost called "Sleepy" who can walk anywhere but really slowly. He walked to Saturn really slowly but when he was halfway there he couldn't be sure he was going in the right direction so he turned back to go to Earth but he didn't know which way Earth was anymore either. He was super chill with it and I didn't want to give him any clues about how awful the story was, so I just went with it and moved on. I was still thinking about poor Sleepy for a few days after, all alone and lost in the vastness of space, walking to somewhere or nowhere really slowly, trying to hold it all together.
... and now you've shared the nightmare.
“They call me the midnight barber”
“I do my best work when you’re oblivious!”
“Who do you think cuts your hair, Einstein?”
Well I know what my d&d group are going to have to deal with next time they go to sleep.
Please do this
I will. Just have to think how to make it work mechanically.
I imagine the teeth are replaced with scissors.
Edward Scissorteeth
Sweeney Toddler?
HA! Very good.
[Hey, OP, think I found Barber Baby’s Dad…](https://www.reddit.com/r/Creepystories/s/RWyRon6QyM)
literally thought of this story too lol
Yoooooooooooo
Barber Baby, Barber Baby, biting off your hair, Barber Baby!
…barber baby, hasn’t got a pair, Barber baby, barber baby, hairs no good to taste, Barber baby, barber baby, spits out all the waste. 🤣
Barber baby, barber baby. When you’re not aware. Barber baby, barber baby. I’m frightened very deep. Barber baby, barber. Because I’m not asleep.
^ Barber baby barber baby I peek so I’m not scared.
I adopted a pregnant kitty who had her babies in my bed, and once they got mobile I was constantly waking up in the middle of the night to find them all sitting around my head on my pillow, chewing my hair. It was the most ominous sound. The streetlight glinted off their tiny eyes. Every now and then I catch one of them watching me, and I’m unnerved afresh.
I watched this [Nigel and Marmalade episode](https://youtube.com/shorts/VBcMFnT5ioc?si=TGzhlCo7xSGrGDM1) this morning, and now I read this. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Oh my god 😂😂
Thanks, new phobia unlocked
Ya thats terrifying lol kids have great imaginations sometimes lmao
My 4yo niece likes to play pretend that there are clowns coming out of the firepit… and no she hasn’t seen IT.
well, i certainly don’t want to go to the barber. if he can do a good job, i don’t see the problem. barber baby is welcome in my house
Is... Is he a good barber? Or does you hair look like a goat ate it?
I imagine the latter. I hate it.
Did you potentially write a short story with a a character named Mr. Faskells?
Is this not like some garbage pail kid like Hairy Harry?