Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy!!! A properly terrifying book. That's really all that needs to be said about it. That's how good this is.

Cora Zeng's life is not going as planned. Amidst a global pandemic, her sister is thrown in front of a train right before her eyes. Her compulsive need to clean ramps up after she begins cleaning up crime scenes. Cora struggles with the loss of her sister and the hatred she faces as a Chinese American. When dead bats begin to make an appearance at the crime scenes she's cleaning, Cora will be unable to ignore the problems she's been hiding away.

This is a dark book right out of the gate, lots of grim topics are discussed at length. Not only is this story haunting, it will stick with you for quite some time after. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Oh yeah, that's the good stuff.

Cora Zeng is used to following her sister Delilah's every whim; after all, she doesn't have much of a life plan herself. But during the rising hate of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cora's life is ripped apart when her sister is brutally killed one day. The parting words of the killer: "Bat Eater". Months later, Cora's job as a crime-scene cleaner sheds light on a disturbing pattern of deaths in New York's Chinatown. The scenes that Cora cleans all seem to be Asian women who have been murdered brutally, and the killer's calling card appears to be the bodies of mutilated bats left at the scene. As Ghost Month approaches and Cora's family prepares for spirits to rise from Hell back to the world of the living, Cora feels danger closing in from all sides.

So, first of all, this book was 0% on my radar before I received my copy in the January 2025 Evernight box. I love me a good horror with social commentary, so I immediately requested to audio on Netgalley and started listening. 24 hours later and I'm sitting here breathless after finishing up the last chapter.

First, characters. The next time someone starts with the "I can't relate to the character if they don't look like me!" bullshit I am going to create a giant neon sign that points straight at Cora Zeng. While Cora's more extreme OCD behavior and social anxiety might not resonate with everyone, I think we can all absolutely relate to being young and wondering what you're going to do with your life. Bonus points for the fact that she's living through the pandemic, which feels like it is crushing all of her aspirations. Been there. On top of all that, Cora is just earnestly trying to do her best to get through every day. Even now, approaching the 5-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, I can very much say that I am sick and tired of living through unprecedented times and sometimes it's really all I can do to get through one day and wake up to face another. Cora really embodies that with her rigid schedule and need for control over her environments in a world where she really doesn't have much control over anything else.

The story of this book is just as stand-out as our characters. It has social commentary. It has cultural traditions. It has terrifying paranormal creatures that will keep you up at night. Bat Eater is the first book I have read this year that made me want to sleep with the lights on. I usually listen to audiobooks while I am falling asleep, but I absolutely refused to turn this on while I was in the dark. The descriptions of the creatures haunting Cora and her friends made by spine tingle and had to be brought back only when the sun was high in the sky again.

Ghosts, though, aren't the only horror in Bat Eater. As I said at the start of the review, this book focuses heavily on the anti-Asian hate that sprouted during the pandemic, highlighting both the gruesome and the benign ways that Asian peoples were targeted in America during COVID-19. This focus in the driving force of the book and for that reason, I am not going to analyze it too deeply here - go and read it for yourself if you want more detail. But suffice it to say that this extremely nuanced commentary is laced up beautifully with the horror elements of this book, putting it right next to Jordan Peele's Get Out in its quality.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng comes out on April 29th, and I can't wait to recommend it to every horror-lover I know. This will definitely be going down as one of the best horror releases of the year.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a dark and gruesome look into Asian hate crimes during the pandemic. It follows Cora, a crime scene cleaner living in Chinatown NYC who witnessed her sister’s murder by an unidentified white man. When Cora is called to more and more crime scenes for brutally murdered Asian women, she realizes something sinister is going on and no one seems to be acknowledging it.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart - it’s gory and brutal and uncomfortable, but also a very powerful and eye opening social commentary. This also has paranormal aspects in the form of hungry ghosts which adds another layer of spookiness. It’s a quick & suspenseful read that I would recommend not only to anyone looking for a gripping horror story, but also to anyone interested in learning more about the Asian experience during the pandemic.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story it was real, and raw, and haunting. Cora was such a beautifully flawed character. From her obsession with germs, cleanliness and avoiding covid, to her traumas from family and the violence inflicted on her and those around her as well as her struggle to figure out exactly where she "fits." This book is everything- EVERYTHING! There's mystery, covid horror, slow-burn ghostly paranormal horror- with some truly horrific imagery, a horror revealing of darkest parts of humanity and exposing the rampant racism that's still so prevalent today. This book is beautifully written and will stay with me forever. I honestly can't wait to read it again.


Natalie Naudus was the *perfect* narrator for the audio of this book. They really brought the story and horrors to life in a way that wast haunting and chilling. I connected to their narration immediately and couldn't seem to turn the book off.

BAT EATER AND OTHER NAMES FOR CORA ZENG [#gifted @hivebooks @htpbooks | Out April 29]

"Harvey's uncle owns a dry-cleaning shop in Chinatown that expanded into crime scene cleanup, since hardly anyone needs their dry cleaning done during a pandemic, but a surprising number of people need brains scrubbed off their walls and even cheapskate families don't like doing that kind of thing themselves."

Haunting. Raw. Important. Award-Worthy. Like the title, this book is in your face and demands your attention. It’s a multi-layered story anchored by the racism, terror and anger directed toward Asian people during COVID. It’s a story about how to survive and belong in the face of hatred. This book will consume you while revealing the ugliest parts of humanity.

Cora is battling the grief of her sister’s tragic death while trying to stay sane and healthy in a pandemic-era world. She gets a job as a crime scene cleaner and quickly pieces together that there’s a serial killer targeting Asian people, leaving bats behind at every scene. Cora and her co-workers race to find the killer to bring closure for her sister and the victims.

I usually don’t read books about COVID because I don’t want to relive that period. However, the racism and dangerous narrative placed upon Asian people during that time is critical to acknowledge. It should make you uncomfortable and it should light a fire under your ass to speak up and stop hate. Much of this story was sadly too-on-the-nail for how it really is out there and the author demands attention to these problems. They didn’t shy away from gore and I’ll likely be haunted by many scenes from this book forever. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work crime scene cleanup, this gives you a front row seat. I enjoyed Cora’s internal dialogue and how cultural beliefs and ghosts play an important role in the story.

Thanks Hive Books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this story. It was one without a doubt one of the strongest books I’ve ever read. There's a new voice in horror and you've solidified me as a fan.

As someone who doesn’t typically read horror and is very easily scared, I am happy to say that I really enjoyed this book. Most of the scary stuff comes in the form of paranormal activity and gore/serial killers. The story itself was so interesting and held so many pieces of Chinese spiritualism (I hope I phrased that correctly) paired with these horror elements rooted in racism, violence, and the rejection of the self. Seeing Cora come full circle to accept herself and her heritage was so wonderfully done. Pacing and plotting were right on the money for me and the ending was a nice, peaceful end to a story that otherwise had me on the edge of my seat. This makes me want to read this author’s backlist.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝? I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but this had me in a choke hold. It’s a story about Cory Zeng, a crime scene cleaner, that takes place in New York City’s Chinatown during the heart of the pandemic. She deals with murders of Asian women, hungry ghosts wandering around and trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not.. Kylie Lee Baker brings on the true vibe of creepy, supernatural and horror all rolled into one..

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!!!

Horror//paranormal//social commentary//racism//mental health//mystery~

TW: Gore, racism/hate crimes, pandemic trauma, PTSD

Oooh this was chilling and good. A murder mystery and ghost tale in one- they tell a story that is all too real and recent. How it feels to live through a pandemic, and the experience of being Asian during COVID. I luckily live in safe and generally diverse part of the US, but I still remember the fear of coughing-while-Asian in those times. I used to try and resist even clearing my throat with my mask on in public, especially after hearing about the rise in Asian hate crimes. I’m glad things are better now, but Kylie Lee Baker does a great job at putting you right back into a time when things didn’t feel too hopeful.

The story was pretty short, and a great break from the typical fantasy books I’ve been reading.

From the author’s acknowledgments:

“For me, no needle-neck ghost can compare to the way the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world—the way we sacrificed the elderly and disabled on the altar of capitalism, the way trust in the government and the CDC swiftly dissolved, and the way we proved we as a country still haven’t learned not to scapegoat an entire race of people in times of fear.”

_Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng_ by Kylie Lee Baker is a disturbing and intensifying horror read that takes place in New York during the Covid-19 pandemic. It follows Cora Zeng, a crime scene cleaner who witnessed the horrific death of her sister Delilah, as she is haunted by a hungry ghost and investigates a serial killer targeting Asian American victims. With sympathetic characters including Cora and her coworkers, this read is captivating and unputdownable.

“Do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”
Thank you to the author and publisher for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. I absolutely loved this book. It was dark but when Cora decided to stand up and fight back, I was right there with her. It feels too relevant in today’s climate. Asian immigrants losing their lives and being forgotten because they were considered lesser than. It brought back the feelings I felt during Covid and watching the blatant hate and violence towards the Asian community. And it’s a stark reminder that our empathy should not stop at the borders of our own communities. A must read if there ever was one!

Synopsis :
Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.
Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.
So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.
She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.
As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

I was a big fan of Kyle Lee Baker's writing after reading her other books: The Keeper of Night and The Empress of Time. Both having a darker take on fantasy. So I knew this was going to be just as good and darker considering the genre is: Horror!

I haven't read a book like this one before. It was both so relatable and not all at the same time. As an Asian-American, I thought it was fascinating to read a book about the pandemic where many of us were ridiculed and faced challenges just because of our ethnicity. Just like Cora, I have a sister and have practiced some of the rituals her aunts have told her. Unlike Cora, I don't have PTSD or a job that requires me to clean up crime scenes.

There was an amazing balance between learning about Cora, her mental health, learning more about her culture and the struggles/reality of what it was like being asian during the pandemic. Definitely recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for this title's ARC.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read and receive this ARC for an honest review!

Truly, this story did not go in any direction that I had expected but I like to go in blind to most books so maybe that is a part of it too. I must throw out there right off the bat, this does take place during the Covid-19 pandemic and it does deal with (important) heavy topics and gets pretty dark and real at times. Be kind to yourself going into this story.

I really loved this. The writing was so poetic, So many hard hitting quotes and just beautiful writing. Being in the main character's head, Cora, truly did at times make me paranoid (and honestly depressed). There was always this heavy atmosphere that fit well with the setting and when things started to feel too heavy I felt that Coras coworkers made that perfect relief to help brighten the mood. I did really love their characters. I also deeply love all the topics talked about and explored in here (like discrimination, which I feel we’re seeing again now sadly). Ones that should be talked about more. This book, being as spoiler free as possible, was just everything I was looking for and more, and because I went in so blind and with low expectations, I was just beyond impressed.

It had an amazing blend of feeling so real, something that could happen in real life while including the more “fantasy” elements. The ending. Just wow. This one will for sure be living with me. For a long time.

I recommend but please check trigger warnings and be kind with yourself while reading this one.

Set during the pandemic, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng immediately took me back to the paranoia of those times, and I know for sure I wouldn’t have read this back then. But now? I have to say, Kylie Lee Baker masterfully blends horror, dark humor, paranormal mystery, serial killings, and cultural mythology into a story that feels both eerie and deeply personal. Following Cora, a crime scene cleaner in NYC’s Chinatown, the book unravels a chilling mystery of murdered East Asian women, bat carcasses, and ghosts—both literal and figurative. The atmosphere is haunting, the social commentary hits hard, and the horror elements? It’s like I’m listening to an Asian horror movie, which I love! I’m also a big fan of the hungry ghosts and would binge on them even if I couldn’t understand when I was a kid. If you love unsettling, thought-provoking horror with a side of existential dread, this one delivers.

Thank you netgalley for the Advanced listener and reader’s copy! 💙

Bat Eater and other names for Cora Zeng takes a reader on a journey back to very recent times, the Covid -19 Pandemic in NYC. It's an interesting perspective to start with as most readers did experience the pandemic, but not all were in NYC, where it was very impactful.

One reason I really wanted to read this was that it came recommended by two champions of horror, Paul Tremblay and Grady Hendrix. It was advertised as horror and I think it lives up to that, but also has a big chunk of social commentary and for some readers, this may still not me the time for "Pandemic literature" which, make no mistake, this definitely is.
We meet our main character, Cora, as she is losing her sister, Delilah in NYC. Adrift, Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner where she's exposed to all sorts of things, while she deals with the grief and loss of Delilah. Soon enough, her life becomes haunted by hungry ghosts, they most assuredly aren't in her mind only because what would cause a huge bit our of her coffee table? What will she do? Should she take the advice of her Aunt or push all of that away. one thing is for certain, it's near impossible to ignore a hungry ghost.

This book will find fans in readers who have likes Paul Tremblay, CJ Leede, and Steven Graham Jones. This is also an excellent book for readers looking to reflect on the height of the Covid 19 pandemic and it's widespread effects. It will be a fantastic choice for book clubs as there are SO MANY opportunities for discussion within. It's well written, and I found it both engaging and easy to read It is due to come out in April of 2025 and with that wild cover, this is one you might want to pre-order this gem!

I'd like to thank Kylie Lee Baker's team/the publisher for approving me for this ARC. I knew as soon as I heard about this book that I needed to read it and it ended up delivering in every way I expected it to while also going above and beyond.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a story that takes place during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and delves into the increased sinophobia and hatred being inflicted onto East Asians as a result of fear and ignorance.

The story has a horrifying start, with Cora witnessing the brutal murder of her sister, which she quickly recognizes as a hate crime when the killer whispers "bat eater" before shoving her sister in front of a moving train. With such a strong, startling beginning to the novel, you would think that incident would be difficult to follow. However, with Baker's writing and her expert depiction of grief, trauma, and fear, the suspense and tension only continue to rise as the story progresses and as anxieties over the unknown continue to haunt our main character.

Throughout the story, Cora grapples with grief while facing an imminent threat reminiscent of what happened to her sister in the subway station. As the lines between reality and the spiritual world are blurred, Cora embarks on a journey to discover the truth about the mysterious string of murders across New York City and get justice for her sister and the other young women who had been wrongfully murdered.

Bat Eater prompts readers to think about the implications of widespread misinformation that feeds into uncontrollable fear and the implications of scapegoating. This was a heart-wrenching read that burrows deeply under the skin and refuses to budge, no matter how vigorously you scrub your hands or bleach the surfaces of your home.

Kylie Lee Baker, author of The Keeper of Night and The Scarlet Alchemist duologies, steps outside her comfort zone with her new novel. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a gory horror novel for adults.
During the COVID pandemic, Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, working under the radar in New York’s Chinatown. For her, the bodies and gore are nothing compared to what happened in her own life. While she and her sister were waiting for the subway, a man screamed at them “bat eater” and pushed her sister in front of the train. From that point on, Cora has no idea how to move forward with life.
Raised as an American, she laughs at the old ways of her Asian aunt but also blows off the idea of the god of her Christian aunt. There is no god; there is only death. The death she cleans up every day. But one day she begins to see death following her around. Her sister’s ghost is hungry because Cora didn’t follow the rituals her aunt had begged her to follow. What did her sister want? To help or to haunt Cora? And can Cora be sure that the ghost isn’t just something in her head?
This novel is a hard departure from Baker’s typical books. Her last four novels have been YA fantasy books deviling into Asian folklore and magic. This novel is straight-up modern-day horror but does bring her Eastern culture with it. But this book is just as good just in a different way. Baker has always had a sense of how to use tension and that talent especially pays off in the horror genre. The suspense has the reader on the edge of their seat with huge payoffs. The scares are real but at the same time there is a story that needs to be told, a story that only Cora is equipped to tell.
And while there is supernatural horror, the worst part to me is the real horror that is added to the book. During COVID, the NYPD had its first murder as a hate crime since 2017 when Yao Pan Ma died from an earlier assault. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Asians rose 76% in 2020. The Asian American-Pacific Islander Equity Alliance collected reports of 10,370 “hate incidents” from March 2020 through September 2021 which included verbal harassment, refusal of service at a business, and online abuse, as well as assaults and property damage. This was more than 11 times the previous average. This background gives the book another layer. While the particulars included in the book are fictional as far (as I know), it does not make the horror that the Asian American population went through any less true. I hope others reading it have a better understanding of that period. Having real horror under supernatural horror makes the book even scarier.
There is an issue that drags the book down. Baker starts to play with the idea of mental illness versus ghosts. And while I can understand that is absolutely something that a modern person would go through, there is a throwaway line that doesn’t carry enough weight. This line concerns treatment of something in Cora’s past and it’s a severe treatment. But after making the statement, it’s just left behind. And you can’t do that. You can’t drop a bomb and then ignore it as it explodes. This is the only reason this book isn’t a five-star book. The reader needs to know about that bomb. Otherwise, this is a great horror novel.
Baker steps out of her usual genre and it pays off. Bat Eater and Other Namer for Cora Zeng is scary, full of tension, and far too real. I truly love seeing Baker grow as an author.

This was... Wild. Beyond wild. I don't know much of anything about Chinese culture/lore, but I really enjoyed how that was mixed into the horror aspect of this novel.
This book was multi-layered horror. The way that Chinese, and then anyone who "looked" Chinese, was treated during the pandemic was absolutely horrifying and this book didn't shy away from it at all.
My minor annoyances was at times with the main character. She was just so passive about everything. Acting like she couldn't ever make a single choice for herself. She does what her sister wants, then what her aunts want, then what her friends want. It gets really tideous.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a claustrophobic, haunting, gory, horror novel. This book explores anti-Asian hate and hate crimes exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic using both crimes in NYC and the traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Cora is a character dealing with her own anxiety, obsessions, and compulsions related to cleanliness, trying to grieve her sister, managing complicated family relationships due to her multicultural background, and working her job as a crime scene cleaner.

While the book is heavy both in theme and content, there are some light moments and the book sprinkles in moments of humor well. This book is squarely horrific, both with the imagery of the ghosts and killings, but also the reflection on racism and isolation. The inclusion of the lighter moments gives some reprieve from the dread of the story, without completely taking you out of the plot.

I found the plot really interesting. However, it also has a distinct three act structure where the plot specifically shifts. It's a little jarring, but Cora's internal musings do manage to keep the story moving along without feeling complete disjointed.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng follows Cora who cleans up crime scenes. After a tragedy occurs, Cora is haunted by ghosts while trying to solve the mystery of what happened.

What a great book. I really enjoyed Cora has a character and found the side characters to be very interesting. This book hits the ground running which makes it easy to get into. I do think there were a few parts where the pacing felt a little slow.

I loved the different commentary in this book. A lot of this book is about Covid so if that is something that bothers you, be aware of that going in. There were a lot of instances of racism against the Asian characters and some of it was so subtle. I think it was super well done because you can feel how tense it is.

I think this is going to be one of those books that everyone will be picking up this year. I will definitely be recommending it!