You’ve probably seen the warnings. "Don't read this while eating." "This book will ruin your week." Honestly, most of the time, that’s just marketing hype used to sell mediocre horror. But with Cows by Matthew Stokoe, the warnings are actually kind of an understatement.
This isn't just a "gross" book. It’s a full-on assault. Published in 1998, it’s a cornerstone of transgressive fiction, sitting comfortably (or uncomfortably) alongside the likes of The Wasp Factory or American Psycho. But where Patrick Bateman cares about business cards, Steven—the protagonist of Cows—just wants to be "normal."
The problem is, Steven’s version of normal is a fever dream of slaughterhouses, talking livestock, and a home life that would make Freud throw up his hands in defeat. If you're looking for a Cows Matthew Stokoe summary that actually makes sense of the madness, you've gotta look past the blood.
What Actually Happens? A Breakdown of the Plot
Steven is twenty-five and lives in a cramped, filthy apartment with his mother, whom he calls "The Hagbeast." Their relationship is... well, it’s a nightmare. She spends her days trying to poison him with disgusting food and mentally breaking him down. Steven's only friend is a dog named Dog, who is paralyzed because the Hagbeast threw a brick at him.
Steven watches TV constantly. He sees these "perfect" families and decides that to be happy, he just needs to be like them. He needs a job. He needs a wife. He needs a house.
So, he gets a job at a local slaughterhouse.
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The Slaughterhouse Initiation
This is where the book shifts from "bleak" to "unhinged." At the slaughterhouse, Steven meets Cripps, the foreman. Cripps isn't just a boss; he’s a cult leader of sorts who believes that the only way to be a "real man" is through the act of killing.
The workers there do things to the cows that I won't describe in detail here, but let's just say it involves extreme sexual deviance and torture. Steven, desperate to belong, tries to keep up. He wants to be part of the "brotherhood."
The Talking Cow and the Tunnels
While working, Steven discovers a hole in the wall. Behind it is a talking Guernsey cow. This isn't a Disney movie. The cow is part of a "hidden" herd that has escaped the slaughter and now lives in the tunnels beneath the city.
The cow starts talking to Steven, trying to manipulate him. It wants him to kill Cripps. The cow represents a weird, primal shadow of Steven’s own psyche. It’s a "mentor" that offers power, but only at the cost of every last shred of his humanity.
Why This Isn't Just "Gore for the Sake of Gore"
A lot of people dismiss Cows as "edge-lord" fiction. I get it. The book features necrophilia, coprophilia, and bestiality. It's a lot.
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But if you look at what Matthew Stokoe was doing, there's a pretty biting commentary on urban alienation. Steven is a man so desperate for a "normal" life that he is willing to commit the most abnormal acts imaginable to get there. It’s a paradox.
The Relationship with Lucy
Steven meets Lucy, a neighbor who is equally damaged. She is obsessed with vivisection and the "toxins" she thinks are inside her. They try to start a "normal" relationship. They play house. They try to have a baby.
But because they are both so fundamentally broken by their environment, their attempt at "normalcy" turns into a literal house of horrors. The ending of their arc involves a DIY C-section and a baby nailed to a wall. It’s the ultimate failure of the "nuclear family" dream.
Key Themes in Matthew Stokoe's Masterpiece
- Alienation: Steven is disconnected from everything—his mother, his peers, and eventually his own body.
- The Meat Industry as Metaphor: The way the cows are treated mirrors the way the city "processes" its citizens. We are all just meat in the machine.
- The Mother/Son Dynamic: This is some of the most extreme Oedipal horror ever written. The Hagbeast is a literal wall between Steven and the world.
- Self-Empowerment: Cripps preaches a dark version of self-help. He argues that by embracing the "beast" inside, you become free.
The Ending: What Does It Mean?
The finale is a chaotic stampede. The cows rise up. Steven kills his mother (finally). He kills Cripps. But does he find peace?
The book ends with Steven having sex with a cow in a field. It sounds like a joke, but in the context of the book, it’s his final rejection of the "human" world. He couldn't be a "normal" man, so he became an animal. It’s a bleak, cynical conclusion that suggests some people are so damaged by society that there is no coming back.
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How to Approach This Book (If You Must)
If this Cows Matthew Stokoe summary hasn't scared you off, and you're planning to read it, here's some advice from someone who’s been through it:
- Check your stomach: If you have a weak constitution, skip it. Seriously.
- Look for the subtext: Focus on how Steven views the world through his TV. It explains why he makes the choices he does.
- Read the prose: Surprisingly, Stokoe is a very talented writer. His descriptions are vivid and rhythmic, which actually makes the horror worse because you can see it so clearly.
- Know the genre: This is "splatterpunk" or "transgressive" fiction. It is designed to cross lines. If you go in expecting a standard thriller, you're going to be miserable.
Cows is a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s a book that stays with you, not because it’s "good" in a traditional sense, but because it explores the absolute basement of the human condition. It’s a reminder that beneath our "normal" lives, there’s a lot of darkness we usually choose to ignore.
To truly understand the impact of Stokoe’s work, you should compare it to his later novel, High Life. While Cows is a surreal, almost mythological look at filth, High Life takes those same themes of corruption and applies them to the glitz of Hollywood. Seeing how he transitions from the slaughterhouse to the red carpet provides a much clearer picture of his overall critique of modern existence. For those who finish Cows and feel like they need a "cleanse," maybe stick to something by Louisa May Alcott for a few weeks. You've earned it.
Next Steps for the Curious
- Research Transgressive Fiction: Look into authors like Dennis Cooper or Poppy Z. Brite to see where Cows fits in the literary landscape.
- Watch Interviews: Search for Matthew Stokoe's rare interviews to hear him discuss the five years it took to find a publisher for this book.
- Check Content Warnings: If you're a sensitive reader, look up a full list of triggers before diving in, as the book covers almost every taboo imaginable.