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Butchered

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Ed and Wink are two friends in search of a good time. Drugs, trespass, the odd bit of petty theft, who’s going to mind? Burlow Farm is just another place ripe for the plucking. An easy target.

But the friends are about to realise they are wholly unprepared for the horrors that lie in wait both above, and below ground. Horrors that have no place in this world. Horrors that will leave them broken for the remainder of their days… should they survive.

Friendships will be tested. The bond of family will be strained.

Butchered is a dark and brutal tale from the author of INCEL and TEDDY.

91 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2024

39 people are currently reading
257 people want to read

About the author

Matthew A. Clarke

59 books181 followers
Matthew A. Clarke is a British horror and bizarro author.

He has published fifteen books at the time of writing, and has countless short stories lurking in the darkest corners of the library.



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Bizarro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often uses elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive, weird, and entertaining works. We read that stuff (someone has to) and then write publicly to one another here about the experience of reading it. If you join this group, you can too.


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Website: www.matthewaclarkeauthor.co.uk
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/~/e/B082WJJPQ3
Facebook: www.facebook.com/matthewaclarkeauthor

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5 stars
77 (26%)
4 stars
101 (34%)
3 stars
77 (26%)
2 stars
26 (8%)
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8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
Profile Image for Peter Topside.
Author 6 books1,452 followers
October 23, 2025
So, incredibly yucky. I was brought back to the pig scene in Hannibal, along with that X-Files episode Home, and even a bit of Hostel. Hopefully that all gives you a general sense of the atmosphere and carnage involved in this book. Very gory and nasty, matching the expectations wholeheartedly. And I even liked the open ending, too, which doesn't necessarily warrant another book, but worked with or without a sequel. I may not eat pork for awhile, or anything that could make me think of a pig or a farm...or anything involving cooking demonstrations. A good, extreme horror experience. To quote Kramer from Seinfeld, "My God! It's a pig man!"
Profile Image for Kate Victoria RescueandReading.
1,901 reviews112 followers
July 29, 2024
Matt’s written a fast paced & extremely brutal story here! Let’s just say it’s short, but very effective in the splatter department.

Not only is this an enthralling read, the disturbing cover is SO eye catching (and nightmare inducing).

What a story… you can expect Red Room Dark Web depravity, pig men, and some things far, far worse…

So glad to see another story out from this author, and can’t wait for the next! If you like this read, check out Matt’s other works- they are all awesome!
Profile Image for Mrsgmamma.
208 reviews39 followers
July 25, 2024
In the first couple chapters I wasn’t sure I was going to like the book, but after those few chapters it started to get better. I like how it switches between years each chapter telling a story of the early days in the past. It was an interesting read for the most part.
Profile Image for Cherise Isabella.
412 reviews32 followers
September 20, 2024
A short twisted sadistic tale of survival of the fittest.

First things first, the cover...yes, just yes. Then the writing was fantastic and the storyline was phenomenal.

It started out strong and finished strong. Though not the most gory book I've ever read. What it lacked in gore, it made up for in the most disturbing imagery and suspense. Despite its length, it reads like a full length novel. There were no plot holes and the story didn't feel rushed.

Enjoyed it thoroughly and will definitely be checking out more of Matthew's work.
Profile Image for Sarah Stevens.
151 reviews27 followers
July 13, 2024
What an incredible story! I sat down to read this and was done before I knew it, the story is really terrifying. I love Matt’s work and was excited to read the ARC. I will definitely recommend this every chance I get! 🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀
Profile Image for Rachel M.
413 reviews17 followers
September 5, 2024
Wink & Ed, a couple of stoner friends in search of something to do, hang out, smoke some weed……find places to steal from! The pair stumble across Burlow Farm which becomes a target for the friends, nice and quiet, easy pickings, how wrong could they be! This is a fast paced violent story following the pair of friends Wink & Ed and also little Ralphie and his ma and pa that live on the farm. For such a short book Matt really packs in some action. Drugs, theft, the dark web, a pig man, along with a dark underground secret! Can the friends survive their night in the farm?
Profile Image for Diane .
360 reviews13 followers
November 24, 2024
A great read which kept me captivated and interested from start to finish.
Well written and descriptive with plenty of gore, blood, torture, pain and butchering.
There are lots of books available out there about capturing innocent victims and using them as playthings for the sicko's on the Dark Web...and this happens to be one of the best.
Quite a short read....but it packed one almighty punch and nearly knocks you out in some places
It deserves the 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'s I've given it all day long!
Great Stuff if you can stomach it🤢🤮

Profile Image for Tony splatterpunk.
142 reviews28 followers
July 23, 2024
Two petty criminals try their luck at a farm but get caught and have no idea what horrors await them……
A brutal and gory enjoyable read 🔪
Profile Image for Horror Bookworm Reviews.
535 reviews192 followers
September 24, 2024
A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Butchered by Matthew A. Clarke
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/

Two young smoking buddies decide to trespass onto a drug-dealing farm. As they make their way past security, they find themselves (un)lucky participants in an incredibly illegal live-streaming event. As the sun sets…nighttime never bodes well in these type of situations…I’m afraid these two boys are in a world of hurt.

Butchered by Matthew A. Clarke is a dive into extreme horrors that lie within a cultivating cannabis farmhouse. Readers should expect a gritty grindhouse experience of ropes, hammers, meat-hooks, thick tan aprons and of course a big pig-freak. It will definitely make you think twice about trespassing on private land. Not since Deliverance has the squeal of a pig sent chills up my spine. Prepare your dreams to be haunted.

Due to the graphic nature of Butchered, henceforth, thee shall be dubbed Matthew ‘Morbid’ Clarke. I swear he must carry a canvas bag of creative murder toys with him at all times. Along with the absolutely beautiful cover art by Wendy Saber Core, this story is full of exploitive disturbing moments that only Tobe Hooper could appreciate. Butchered by Matthew A. Clarke is a branding iron of pain to the brain.

“Are you recording this?” Lights! Camera! Action! Let the pleading and suffering begin! If you enjoy movies like Wrong Turn, The Hills Have Eyes or Hatchet, you’re gonna dig Butchered. A Five Star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.
Profile Image for Ashley Palmer.
45 reviews11 followers
March 20, 2025
Another book that’s just as awesome as the cover. Bravo!!!

Weird, gross, and bizarre. ❤️ I loved it!
Profile Image for Amy.
83 reviews5 followers
August 15, 2025
Not my favourite. Would have loved some more context. More info on the characters etc, but I understand that it's supposed to be a short story. I'm always intrigued by the idea of these 'red rooms' and the dark web, so I would have liked to see it play into that concept a bit more.
Profile Image for Shannon M..
520 reviews68 followers
July 16, 2024
Matt is an incredibly talented author and I am very thankful for the ARC that I received of this book. The story is extremely interesting and I actually found myself connecting it to the movie Untraceable, which is one of my absolute favourite movies. Obviously being tortured is frightening, but there is something even scarier about it being recorded and having people tune in. The story tied up really nicely. It wasn't overly long and easily a one-sitting read. Grab it today and then grab everything else he has written!
Profile Image for Mickey.
830 reviews300 followers
July 16, 2024
This was an incredibly dark, disturbing, and gory read. It was only a short book, but it definitely packed a punch. Just when you think you've read the worst, it just kept going.
Profile Image for Merrill David.
Author 31 books60 followers
December 21, 2024
Bacon bits galore! great book!

He did it again! Incel was excellent so i had to get more from Clarke. Butchered has a sick cover and a brutally good story! I loved it!
Profile Image for Corrina Morse.
816 reviews127 followers
August 18, 2024
MATT’S BACK!!!!
It's been a while, but it was definitely worth the wait! Clarke once again delves into the disturbing depths of the dark web, red rooms and snuff movies. But with a twist….

You are immediately hooked and drawn in to the allure of darkness, depravity and horror that is being teased towards you from the off, dangled temptingly like the proverbial carrot….only this time its an array of torture tools. The tension is palpable and doesnt let up at all throughout the book, making this an intense, action packed and twisty, twisted gorefest, complete with cannibalism, torture and abuse and a terrifying desire for survival.

Watching snuff movies is disturbing in its own right, but what if you wanted to take it a step further and become a part of it, by paying to have acts carried out on your behalf? Thats pretty fucked up, but it happens! One guy is contemplating just that, but can he really handle it?

Along with his friend, Wink, our MC is after some good weed, they know where to get it, but actually getting it isn't that simple, in fact, it's a real strain in itself, one they will live to regret. If they live at all after being held captive by the farmer whose field they find themselves trapped in. The farmer himself is an extremely violent, remorseless and merciless man, to be outdone only by his son….

Eight year old Ralphie is a farmer's son, that alone causes him to suffer humiliation and bullying on a daily basis, and not even his dying Mumma or his Pap seem to love or care for him. He seeks solace with the animals on the farm, after all, they take him as he is, they don't bully him. Especially the pigs. And when his Mumma finally does pass, though not in the way he was expecting, it gives him a whole new lease of life and the confidence to be who he wants and to do what he wants. And woe betide anyone who ever did him wrong….

Teaming up with his Pap, they embark on a whole new life, one pathed with blood, guts and bizarre endings! A sadistic father and son team who discover that farming is a lot of hard work for very little reward, so they decide to start a little extra something on the side. Something desperately disturbing, dangerous and sickening. They like to get saucy too, and butter up their victims before making their lives a living Hell!

The determination of the MC to do whatever he could, to fight until he could fight no more, was inspiring and had me firmly on his side!

Completely immersive and addictive, this story comes with a great twist too. It does not go where you think it's going to go when you start to read, and that just made it massively more enjoyable for me! This needs to become a series…. I need more!!!! 🖤
Profile Image for renee w.
265 reviews
July 18, 2024
4.5 🐷

I was lucky enough to receive an arc of this from Matt.


“Weed that good was hard to come by.”

Ed and Wink, two young friends decide to go out one night on a limb to steal some marijuana. They never expected what they would stumble upon inside Burlow Farm. Poor Ralphie grew up on Burlow Farm with an abusive mother and father and consistently being bullied at school. He found his only solace was the pigs. Clarke, has weaved a gruesome and depraved tale in just 92 pages. I highly recommend this to those who enjoy the extreme !
Profile Image for Karen.
212 reviews28 followers
August 15, 2024
This may be a short one, but it really packs a punch. I was hooked from the first chapter. This story follows Wink and Ed, who decide it's a good idea to steal some weed from a farm, but boy, did they make the wrong decision. It felt like a good and messed up Criminal Minds episode mixed with maybe a dash of Fear Dot Com and a pinch of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I loved it! 🐷 I need to check out the rest of the authors work.
Profile Image for Trisha Butler.
35 reviews10 followers
July 18, 2024
I received this as am ARC from the author, Matthew A. Clarke, in exchange for a review. So a big thank you to them!

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. I love horror ANYTHING, so I was excited. But what I will tell you is that I wasn't expecting how grossed out I would be. Not in a bad way, but its an experience I haven't had with many other books. I may or may not have gagged a few times at some of the descriptions. 😂

If you like movies like The Hills Have Eyes or Wrong Turn, then this would be a great read for you.!
Profile Image for Trish.
451 reviews21 followers
August 15, 2024
Fast paced, brutal and very satisfying.

Told through alternative perspectives and switching timelines.

Through the POV of Ed, he, along with his friend Wink, are caught trespassing with intent to rob a farm; the punishment meted out far exceeds the crime.

Through the perspective of Ralphie, we meet a young boy bullied at school and neglected at home.

When both timelines collide, wow, does this take you on a helluva journey!

And it’s Matthew A Clarke, so expect the subtle bizarro touch to keep you company throughout!

Loved every minute of it 👻. Strongly recommend

I received an ARC from the author. This is my honest review.
Profile Image for Dark And Thorny.
82 reviews
July 17, 2024
Wow, just wow. This book was short but SO intense. I couldn’t put it down until I finished. A harrowing tale to say the least, and amidst the fantastic story line was incredible, and slightly humorous writing. There were two parts that stood out to me in how it was written that I thought were genius:
“Watch her jellified mass ripple upon contact with the floor”
And
“Alone, in the middle of nowhere. Tied up. Buttered (!?)”

Albeit it was amidst the horror and atrocity, I found myself giggling at these two lines. As a bigger girl I will forever refer to myself as a “jellified mass” 🤣

Thank you for an incredible read and the opportunity to read this as an ARC! Matthew A. Clarke nailed it with this story
Profile Image for Pages_Of_TheGrimRaven.
63 reviews3 followers
September 6, 2024
First off ... Look at this cover, guys!
I love Clarke's cover choices 👌🏻 Eye catching and monsterous



You really do need to be careful of where you're trespassing 😬🫣

This is a fasted paced, gripping and grousome read.
From the very start I was immersed, locked in and ready to go.
The book is short but don't let that spoil your view, it'll grip you till the very end.
Though I would have liked this to have been a novel, all fleshed out, I was not disappointed with my read; it packed a punch and I enjoyed my one sitting with this, it gave me a psycho hillbilly vibe, making me think of movies like 'The Hills Have Eyes'.

I do find these smaller reads perfect to scratch that itch.



This was my first read by Matthew A. Clarke and I am definitely going to be reading more of his books!
Profile Image for Beatrix Starling.
477 reviews10 followers
August 20, 2024
Short but brutal, Butchered is a fast paced torture fest with some really cool characters and a dismaying story.

The writing is absolutely brilliant, as one can expect from Matt Clarke: he has a way with words that is just pure perfection.

The story flows well and it's no hardship to finish in one sitting as it sucks you in. The setting becomes full dimensional and alive with depravity. You can see it, hear it, smell it in your mind.
I only wish it was a full size novel as the plot had so many fascinating aspects, it was a treasure trove of even more potential horrific gore and disgust.

I'm super excited to see what's up next Matt's blood soaked sleeves!
Profile Image for Ali  O.
774 reviews44 followers
September 26, 2025
Butchered by Matthew A. Clarke
Narrated by Lucas Boyd
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is an exciting and intense short, extreme horror story! There’s lots of gore, excitement and it has an overall dark and disturbing storyline.
Wink and Ed make a terrible decision when they go onto someone’s farm to look for drugs. They have no idea what this bad choice will do to them.

I listened to the audio version and the narrator did an excellent job!! It’s a quick read/listen, that I didn’t stop until the very end!

*Check it out!!* 🐷🐷

Profile Image for Tegan Grubb.
9 reviews
October 1, 2025
Loved the story! Enjoyed reading it! I just wish that there was a bit more icky sicky gross stuff happening. Alas, there is only so much you can fit in a condensed book
Profile Image for Jordan.
Author 2 books33 followers
August 12, 2024
2.5 stars

I'm in two minds with Butchered. I love Matt's work in general, and this had a really promising storyline, but I'm not completely sold on it.

Butchered is short, and I think it suffers a little for it. Matt almost seemed to shy away from his usual gore and extreme violence to fit into a shorter format. Parts of what the boys were going through were described in detail, but then parts were only summarized; this almost split created a bit of a weird disconnect for me in the story.

The story as a whole felt rushed, and I don't have as many answers as I wish I did. What happened to the mom? Was there a supernatural element to this or just something I didn't pick up on? How much time passed between the stream at the start and the events with Wink and Ed? Why was their stream full audio, but the first one was no audio?

I don't think this was as cohesive as it wanted to be. The story bounced between the past and the present, and it wasn't always clear how the past events tied into what was happening with the boys. The part with Jackson at the beginning ended up tying in, but it was a shallower connection that I would've liked to see explored a little more. What's his story, and why was he watching the feeds? Was he part of a task force against red rooms but found himself getting too into it? I'm not really sure how he fits into all this.

Red rooms and the deep web in horror are always interesting plots, and Butchered definitely gave that a solid go, but I just couldn't get as invested in this one as I have in some of Matt's previous works.
Profile Image for Jessie Raven.
331 reviews20 followers
July 16, 2024
This is one fast paced book.
Starts off strong with a “viewer” watching some content where we meet pig man (from the cover). In the following chapters we alternate between different characters. Our main characters are Ed and Wink 2 boys looking for drugs in a farm. However they get more than they bargained for! This was one hell of a journey I had my heart in my mouth the whole time silently hoping the boys would escape. But do they? You need to read this to find out but be warned this is an extreme horror and it will leave a bad taste in your mouth from how cleverly written this was. There’s space for a sequel which I would 100000% need to read!! Thanks for letting me ARC read Matt! If you haven’t already check out his incel book which is just as bloody good
Profile Image for Peter Caffrey.
Author 35 books95 followers
August 28, 2024
Butchered by Matt Clarke is a shortish read which blends together two time lines to create a bloody good belly laugh. It’s dark, graphic and at times bleak, but the pay-off is worth hanging in for.

It’s an amusing tale for those with darkness at the core of their humour, and as such is well worth a read.
Profile Image for Shannon Reviews.
296 reviews14 followers
October 21, 2024
If I could I would give this book more than five stars. But overall this book was fantastic! It had a lot of scary moments, and the twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end.
Profile Image for Gemma.
153 reviews
October 29, 2024
So, this short and punchy book didn't hold back!

With torture, family ties and friendships at stake and very creepy pig masks adding that extra slaying factor - Clarke touches a lot of bases where horror is concerned and does this brilliantly.

This book switches between different characters of the story to build up a holistic picture of what is really happening. There is a no-holds barred on detailed scenes of torture and I feel this story has so many places it could be taken to in terms of a sequel. The cover artwork is pretty incredible too! 🐷

The only slightly negative feedback I can give, is that even though I, and most likely a lot if other readers can understand some of the more advanced language/words used in the book, for example, words used such as 'trypophobia' and 'sinewy'. This could possibly reduce the amount of people who could enjoy Clarke's writing if they are unable to understand certain aspects of it, as not all readers may understand this type of language and could isolate a larger group of potential readers.

Clarke's writing is very articulate and flows really well especially in a genre like this. Looking forward to reading more from Matthew in the future :)
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