This was everything I wanted in a modern horror novel! It’s sentimental, unnerving, and emotionally rich. The story is haunting and beautifully crafted, rooted in generational folklore, cultural memory, and the horror that exists in both the paranormal and the everyday. It was so atmospheric, easy to get wrapped up in, and hard to put down. It weaves together ancestral lore, serial killer thriller, and psychological horror in a way that felt so original. Beyond horror, it’s also about family, mental health, grief, friendship, and the resilience needed to find your power. Cora is a complex protagonist, flawed in many ways and impossible not to root for. I’m not sure I’ll ever step onto a metro platform again without thinking about this book. By the final chapter, my tears began to escape. By the end of the author’s note, I was sobbing. Kylie Lee Baker ends with a perfect, powerful reminder: Do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.

Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for access to this one.

Normally I don't read books that include the pandemic as I don't want to relive any of that. This book really did it well and it wasn't what I was expecting it to be. I actually really enjoyed Cora and her story.

What a banger this was! 👏🏻 I honestly went into this book completely blind, and it worked best, I think. Yes, this book does mention Covid-19, BUT it is not a story about Covid, just the era. Keep reading, trust me. This book does have a lot of heavier topics but such a profounding story with important and thought-provoking details. Layers of entertainment and creepy scenes! There were some scenes that actually made my skin crawl. 😋 The characters were complex, honest, and real. The big city vibes. I enjoyed all of that.

Body horror, gruesome gore, crime scene clean up, the paranormal. But want to know what was scarier?? Racism. Continues oppression. Unkindness. Sometimes, the real horror isn't the ghosts, gore, and blood. It is the way we treat each other as human beings.

This is a fav of 2025 for sure!

What was I thinking?? Picking up a horror thriller book? Knowing full well it’s not something I normally would read? Oh God. It was very gory and unsettling, felt like a nightmare. But not gonna lie I was enthralled.

Set during the early months of Covid-19, the story follows Cora Zeng, a 24 y.o. Chinese woman who just lost her half-sister Delilah in the hand of a masked white man. But Delilah isn’t the only victim. Working as a crime-scene cleaner, she’s dealing with human entrails which mostly were Asian girls or women. And there’s always bats in the scene, like it’s the serial killer’s signature.

Serial killer on the loose while the police only brushed off the cases, hungry ghost looming around because it’s the Ghost Month, resurgence of Sinophobia, on top of already having mysophobia, Cora’s life was constantly on edge. And I felt like I was going insane alongside her.

I had to pause my reading several times because I couldn’t bear it, but I couldn’t just stop and drop the book. I had to know how everything unfolded. And it didn’t disappoint! It was a wild silent ride that constantly made me question which one is real and which one is a sliver of Cora’s thoughts. There’s some things that left unclear until the end but I’ll let them slide I guess. Also Yifei is my fav character and I wished her story could be more explored. Poor girl:(

Truly speechless about this book. It's one of the scariest books I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and in so many different ways. I love horror, especially horror that has something to say, and boy was this one impactful.

This adult horror debut from Kylie Lee Baker is dark and unsettling. The setting of mid-pandemic New York City behaves as its own character in Cora’s story. She is working as a crime-scene cleaner and is coping with the aftermath of her sister’s recent murder. The realistic human horror is intertwined with supernatural elements based on Chinese folklore. Cora’s seemingly all-encompassing anxiety and compulsions help add a frenetic quality to the pacing of this thriller, creating an even greater sense of foreboding, and while the tertiary characters (such as Cora’s aunt and co-workers) serve to intermittently lighten the storyline, the darkness is always just a page or two away. Creepy and thought provoking.

I feel kinda bad saying this but… I just didn’t love this one. I think I might be one of the few people who didn’t. I made it to about the 60% mark before realizing I was dreading picking it back up, and ended up skimming the rest just to get to the end.

That said—there were things I really appreciated. The way it tackled anti-Asian hate during COVID felt important and real. Cora’s character arc is strong—she starts off really frozen and unsure of herself, and by the end she’s… well, a lot less frozen. (No spoilers, but yeah, she goes through it.) I thought the OCD rep was really well handled too, and I was super into the Chinese mythology and all the ghost/superstition stuff.

I just… couldn’t connect with it. Like, all the pieces were there but it still didn’t click for me, and by the halfway point I was literally looking up spoilers so I could skim ahead and be done. I don’t know. It wasn’t a bad book at all, it just wasn’t my book.

So, I wasn't entire sure how I felt about reading a book that centered around covid. Did I really want that reminder of how awful those months were? Well as it turns out, yes! I sure did.

This book is incredible. It did take me a while to really get immersed into it, but once I did I couldn't put it down.

I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil anything, because I absolutely think it's worth going into this one blind. But I will say that this didn't go where I thought it would at all - it's heartbreaking, gory at times, eerie as hell, and it really shines a light on some important real life issues that happened, and continue to happen.

Just go read it.

I didn't realize this was a book about COVID. I just saw Kylie Lee Baker and knew I wanted to read it. It's definitely one of the darkest stories I've read to date, not just because of the gore and violence, but because I know that while this is fiction, the story didn't sprout out of thin air. Violence against Asian women did increase during the height of COVID and KLB is not afraid to make us feel uncomfortable. I also think we need more books like this.

WOW. Just… wow. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a brutal blend of horror, social commentary, and pandemic-era grief. It kicks off in early pandemic NYC when Cora’s sister is shoved in front of a train, and from there it just does not let up.

As Cora works as a crime scene cleaner, she uncovers a disturbing pattern of murdered Asian American women, ghostly hauntings, and a serial killer lurking in the shadows. It's heavy, it’s wild, it’s weird, and it TOTALLY worked for me. This one is not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach it, give this one a go! (but maybe not before bed).

Kylie writes amazing YA and adult books! This one felt unrestrained and I can’t wait to see more from her!

This thought-provoking and emotional story offers a poignant glimpse into the treatment of individuals during the early days of the pandemic. It’s an intense narrative that challenges readers to reflect on the human experience in times of crisis.

I should mention that this book surprised me; I initially approached it with the expectation of a horror novel, but it turned out to be something entirely different.

Visceral and powerful - Cora Zeng is a book to be reckoned with, and I'm not sure everyone is ready for it. Set during COVID-19, 2020 New York, some readers might find the setting and situations triggering.

Baker writes a story, THE story, that so many of us think of, but don't have the capacity and bandwidth to write, and infuses it with horror stories of hungry ghosts and monsters.

I don't know how to describe this book other than it will stay with me and haunt me for a long time to come.

I went into this book pretty blind and I LOVED it. I know a lot of people might avoid pandemic themed books but it honestly worked so well with the story for this one. I loved the MC, and actually all of the characters. Kylie did such an exceptional job with her characters and scene/world building in this piece. If you like gory or horror, this one needs to be on your list.

Bat Eater and Other Names is strange in the best way. It’s a collection of short stories, all dark, haunting, and kind of beautiful. Some are about family, others about identity or grief, but they all feel a little off in a way that keeps you reading.

The writing is really poetic but not too hard to follow. I liked that each story felt different but still connected through mood. It’s not a light read, but it’s the kind of book that sticks with you after. If you like stories that are weird, emotional, and a little eerie, this one’s worth picking up.

First of all, I’m so obsessed with this first version of the cover for the book! Second of all, I think horror is an excellent genre choice to deal with some complex social issues! Injustice makes my blood boil and combine that with racism and this story had me reeling.

Cora and Delilah are two sisters with a complicated relationship, living in NYC as the pandemic hits. Cora feels conflicted in her grief and tries to occupy herself with her work as a crime scene cleaner. Then bats start appearing at some of the crime scenes. And it’s a month of “hungry ghosts”! What could possibly go wrong?!

This book had me thinking and feeling, as well as lost in some dark imagery of ghosts! Author talks about our tendency to “scapegoat entire nations” and it hurts my heart and soul that that’s something that continues to take place over and over again. COVID was difficult for everyone but imagine facing hate and violence and blame simply because of the way you look! Cora’s helplessness and fear of germs AND of people were beautifully portrayed. If you love horror that reads like literary fiction, you’ll want to check out this one!

A huge thank you to @HTP @MIRA for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“We can’t just look for white men. You should have looked harder, they said. But white men are going after Asian girls, and that’s all they have to go on, us being Asian. No one wants to look harder at us. To imagine that we’re real people. Every day I clean up their brains and blood and I know that a white man coming for me isn’t an if, it’s a when. And the worst part is I know no one will find out who did it, no one will write about it in the newspapers, because who cares if another Chinese girl is dead—they’ll hear me screaming and just put in their headphones and keep walking. Even now, you want to walk away from us because it’s gross, because blood and guts make you uncomfortable. But it doesn’t matter if we’re uncomfortable—we don’t get to look away. We’re dying and no one can hear us.”

this is one of the most smartly written horror novels I’ve ever read. I remember the harsh xenophobic rhetoric that was all over US media in 2020 and it was abhorrent. And it doesn’t stop at just Covid-19. The authors note Kylie Lee Baker wrote at the end of this really stuck with me but especially her last sentence:

“do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community”

this is such an important statement. liberation has to be for everyone or else it is liberation for none. empathy I feel has become such a transactional thing now that we need books like this to express systematic racism and the horrors within that in our society in Western culture.

If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. Bat Eater completely surpassed every expectation I had. I didn’t even know what I was expecting going in, but this book absolutely delivered. It’s the kind of story that crawls into your bones and settles there. Every scene felt purposeful, every twist hit just right, and by the end I was emotionally exhausted (in the best way).

This book made me feel everything. I laughed, I raged, I cringed, I mourned. It carried a huge emotional weight that I don't usually expect when picking up a horror book. The paranormal and horror elements were perfection and genuinely unsettling in places. Think The Grudge X 100. The tension and suspense was cut with moments of sharp humor that was completely unexpected for me. And underneath it all, though, was a deeply resonant and extremely devastating commentary on racism and xenophobia in the US. The real horror here wasn't just supernatural, it was the very real experiences of East Asian immigrants in the US, especially during/since peak COVID.

I loved Cora. She broke my heart, and I was desperate to be able to talk to her and offer her my friendship and validation. Her fear and anxiety during the early months of the pandemic felt so familiar, it transported me back to early 2020. That sense of dread and the unknown, and her internal struggle against her own mind is one I am intimately familiar with.

The ghosts in this story were unsettling and super creepy, but more than anything, they're tragic. When the full truth behind them was finally revealed, it hit me like a punch in the gut. I can't say too much without spoilers, but it made me feel such rage but also helplessness, mostly because of how realistic and plausible everything was (minus the ghosts...maybe).

I’ll definitely be rereading this one in the near future. It’s been easily one of my favorites so far from 2025, and I can’t recommend it enough to readers who love their horror and paranormal with a side of emotional damage.

A huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an electronic copy of this book. All opinions stated are my own.

Cora Zeng witnessed the horrible murder of her sister Delilah at the height of the COVID pandemic in New York. The murderer's parting words were simply "bat eater." Months later, Cora is now a crime scene clean up tech, cleaning up the remains of those who die messy in Chinatown.  At multiple crime scenes, Cora and her colleagues find the bodies of bats, along with the corpses of Asian women.  A possible serial killer isn't the only issue. Cora has spent most of her life ignoring her Chinese heritage, but that becomes impossible when she is suddenly stalked by a hungry ghost during the Hungry Ghost Festival. The ghost seems focused on bringing Cora Zeng to either her death or a stunning revelation on the nature of the murders she is tasked with cleaning up.  

Author Kylie Lee Baker takes readers through a story that is so engaging, it becomes difficult not to simply sink into this book until you've finished the very last page.  As a rule, I tend to avoid books and shows about the pandemic. Having lived through it, I'm not a big fan of most media that talks about it for my sanity's sake. However, I broke that rule to read Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng and I'm thrilled I did. Baker doesn't shy away from writing a character that is not automatically loveable. Cora is believable. She's struggling through grief, loss of connection to her culture and limited family, and having to force herself into situations that are so deeply uncomfortable for her that it adds a whole new level of horror. 

For long term horror fans, the book will be easily digestible in the more graphic sequences. For those readers just starting to dip their toes into the water of horror, please be advised that Delilah's death is absolutely traumatic.  I absolutely loved Baker's use of the Hungry Ghosts Festival as a backdrop, as well as showing how cultures morph and change in a setting like the United States. 




Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is now available from Harlequin Publishing.

I was enraptured from the very first chapter and didn’t put this book down until I reached the final page. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a ghost story, yes, but it’s so much more. Set against a panic-stricken, eerily familiar New York City during the height of the pandemic, the novel pulses with dread that blurs the line between supernatural horror and the all-too-real terror of being part of a marginalized community in America.

Cora’s story is tangled in grief, fear, and resilience, shaped by a complicated family dynamic that is as haunting as the ghosts she encounters. What makes this book so frightening isn't just the spectral presences, but the raw, unflinching depiction of anti-Asian hatred and the isolation faced by immigrant communities in times of crisis.

This story doesn't shy away from the ugly truths of pandemic-era racism, and that’s exactly what gives its horror weight. It’s chilling, intimate, and incredibly relevant.

✨Highly, highly recommend. This one will stay with me.