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!

What a thrilling, horrifying, evocative journey! The first chapter starts off with Cora and her sister Delilah conversing and then BAM. It captures the abruptness of tragedy so well. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, filled with the terror of living in a city where racism and hate crimes are rampant but covered up.

The terror slowly creeps up on you as the horror elements start to emerge. I was shocked. I was in disbelief. But it’s the hateful people that are the true terrors of the story. And I was enraged. This is a horror novel that touches on so many important topics. The entitlement of white men and then anger when they’re refused, turning to vile and violent behaviors. The sexualization of Asian women. The micro aggressions. The killing of Asian women that doesn’t get the same attention as white women.

As someone who tries not to read about the pandemic, I picked this up because of its unique take and highly recommend it. As an immigrant, I recommend it even more. As the author states in her note at the end, ‘do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.’ Now more than ever this is important.

Horror gore ghost story during the pandemic? Sign me up! This one might not be for everyone and a little too gorey but I thought it was great! Thank you so much Netgalley for this advanced read!

3.5 stars

The first chapters of this book really grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the narrative took a turn and tended to drag quite a bit. Still this is an excellent social commentary and a very scary horror novel. The important topic of anti-Asian sentiment during and after Covid is very well represented here.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I did DNF this at 20%. Unfortunately this just isn't my type of horror. It's very gruesome and bloody. I also wasn't a fan of the religious aspect of it, nor the fact that it's set during COVID and didn't have that listed anywhere.

Overall I think a ton of people will love this book, but it's not my type of horror.

This book was very unexpected and thought provoking. I went into without really knowing much, but it ended up hitting on so many important topics while captivating me in the horror aspects of it. This is the first book I have read that takes place during covid and to read about the Asian American experience from this point of view was incredibly impactful. Baker writes a gripping novel ripe with hungry ghosts, terrible murders, and an important perspective. Cora was the perfect view to see this story through, and I will not soon recover from— the first chapter, but also the entire novel.

****I received both the ebook and audio for this ARC and have submitted the same review for both. I'll add here that the ebook did have several strange formatting issues that I assume will be fixed before publication. (Random spacing between letters in a word, additional spacing between paragraphs)

This book starts off right away with a punch to the gut and it doesn't slow down from there. From the first chapter, my attention was held and I wanted to speed read through this to see how dark it was going to get. It did have it's gruesome moments that are expected with horror, but I find the quieter moments to be much more horrific in any horror novel.

I remember reading and hearing about all of the Asian hate during Covid and being completely horrified by it then. Kylie Lee Baker takes those moments and makes us face it all over again without holding back. I kept thinking to my, Did she pull this from real life? (And I know at least some of it was.) That's the truly scary part of this book. People did terrible, racist things in real life and didn't face consequences and caused people to live in fear when we were all already a little scared. This is what scares me in horror novels. It's not the monsters and supernatural elements--it's the human reactions to the situations they're put in because those things could happen in real life. This is what made Bat Eater such a success to me.

That said, I was taken by surprise with the ghosts. I thought at first they were hallucinations, though I do like the cultural aspect in the involvement of the ghosts. The way I read the description to the book, I didn't anticipate a supernatural element (and didn't see appropriate tags on Goodreads), but that could be on me. When I went back, I saw the mention of hungry ghosts. I do think this book is plenty terrifying without the supernatural element, but I do love that this aspect allowed us to learn more about the culture and Cora's relationship with it.

I felt like conclusion involving the killer and what Cora did happened a little fast. Blink and you miss it kind of fast for what happened to him. I do like and approve of the character development we got from Cora by the end. It was nice to see her come into her own and stop taking everyone's shit.

5⭐️

I've been a little leery about reading stories that focus on COVID and I was hesitant on reading this one. I'm so glad I pushed past that, though! This book really focused on how bleak things were during the height of 202 and how on edge everyone was. This book also highlighted how Chinese people suffered from higher rates of racism and hate crimes during that time.

This was a perfect mash up of a gory, gruesome horror story, a ghost story, a who-done-it mystery, and a social commentary on racism in the US. I loved the use of the bats as the glue that tied all of the deaths together when everything else was so different between each person. The ghost trying to help solve the case added to the tension and the fact that there were enough gruesome murders and mutilated bodies that Cora wasn't able to guess who the ghost actually was was a nice touch.

I also loved how this showed how resilient someone can be when they have to be. Cora has spent almost her entire life doing whatever her half-sister Delilah said. Cora hated making her own decisions and would do what she was told to avoid confrontation. Cora finding the job as a crime scene cleaner that fits to her strengths and compulsions (I don't think it's ever specifically says, but she shows the signs of OCD) was a great first step in making something of her own life after Delilah's death. Yifei and Harvey pulling Cora out of her shell and forming their own little found family was the perfect gang to pull for in this crazy story.

Thank you Netgalley, MIRA and Harlequin Audio for providing this ARC to me!

This book was spectacular! It had the perfect amount of horror, lore, and gore. Also, one of the few COVID-themed books I truly enjoyed. 10/10, would recommend! Great premise, expertly written, and a completely unique story for me. Kept me reading!

Horror • Mystery • Supernatural • Folklore
Expected Publication • 29 April 2025

Thank you @_mira_books_ for the free e-book.

·˚ ༘₊·꒰➳: ̗̀➛ This will be in contention for top Horror of 2025 · ←˚ ༘₊·꒰➳: ̗̀

From the opening chapter, you can’t look away. A book that never pulls its punches, provides gripping social commentary, and blends Chinese lore and superstition against a backdrop of stereotypes and violence toward Asian Americans during the so-called “China virus”.

Cora Zeng is unemployed and needs rent money so she becomes a CSI-style crime scene cleaner. It’s one of the few things that she can stomach, ironically, as it’s impersonal and she can hide behind her mask and hazmat suit. As she and her crew respond to calls, a pattern emerges — though the deaths take different forms, the killer has a calling card involving bat entrails and body parts.

Cora is not OK but she’s getting by. She suffers from a few things, predominantly fear and PTSD following an assault and murder she witnesses and also some form of germaphobia/OCD. She’s also either losing her mind or food/drink is going missing from her apartment [where she lives alone]. Or it could be a restless spirit who hasn’t moved on to the afterlife, if you believe her Aunty Z, who is an expert on hungry ghosts.

I usually shy away from books relating to COVID-19 but this one is different. It’s not just about “what we all went through” “together”. This will punch you in the gut, make you laugh, terrify, and make you think hard about racism and domestic terrorism in our country.

TW: Murder, Gore, Misogyny, Assault, Racism, Racial Slurs

Thank you for the advanced e-book copy..
I think I would list this book as a supernatural horror novel. Though I’m not interested in reading about the pandemic since I’ve already lived that and don’t want to relive it. However, I did enjoy this book. It covers the hatred and racism as an aftermath of Covid. This is probably one of the most gory,,stomach turning book I’ve read.

Kylie Lee Bakers prose grips you at the first page and never let’s go. This is an atmospheric and gory book filled with yummy (read:horrific) descriptions on every page. This book is definitely on the slower side and the MC is quite passive in many ways by design, though her faults are made up for by the intricate inferiority and vibrant ensemble side characters. The only gripe I have is that the resolution for the killings felt a bit convenient, a bit of a ghostly deus ex machina with how she learns all the info at once. I wish it was more of a discovery process. But still an enjoyable read

One of the best horror novels I’ve read in a while! Very unique and creative story! I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about a Covid book but this one was very realistic and dark, I absolutely loved it I can’t wait for the rest of the world to get to experience this book. The cover is also stunning!!

A pandemic ghost story that we may not have known that we wanted, but that we certainly needed. Baker does an exceptional job building passionate and loveable characters even if they spend most of the book fighting for their lives.

Cora, reeling from the violent murder of her sister, cleans crime scenes alongside Harvey and Yifei. Soon, a pattern emerges among the victims: They are all Chinese women and all the crime scenes have battered bats. While the crime scene cleaners piece together the murders, hungry ghosts relentlessly haunt Cora. Unaware of their ghostly intentions, Harvey and Yifei search to find ways to relieve Cora of her hauntings.

While reading, the middle seemed to drag, but once the book tipped into the last half, every other page was a disturbing terror and/or a jaw-dropping twist. I couldn't stop my heart from racing. This novel is a necessary look at how Anti-Asian discrimination amped up during COVID-19 and how pockets of social media have brought out the worst in humanity.

From the ghost's (and Cora's) point of view, this is also a "good for her" trope, and while motivations terrified me, her actions in most cases were justified. This novel was educational, entertaining, and horrifying. Would absolutely recommend it to fans of horror.

Cora is an obsessive compulsive hypochondriac living in New York City during the pandemic. While COVID-19 dutifully ravages the world around her, Cora faces unimaginable trauma and racially charged violence as a Chinese American. While she starts to unravel the details of a possible serial killer in their midst targeting Asian women, Cora also faces the looming paranormal threat of hungry ghosts.

Equal parts scary, engaging, and thought-provoking with a fresh perspective on both real world horror and cultural legend.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and HTP Books for the arc of Bat Eater and other names for Cora Zeng.

Wow!! If I could describe this book with one word, that would be it!! I don't normally read books about COVID, or horror books however this was amazing. It has ghosts with very gnarly descriptions, mystery and lots of emotions!!

Highly recommend!!

This book was an unexpected gut-punch in all the best ways. It follows Cora, a 24-year-old germaphobe, who’s half-Chinese and half-white. She’s been living in her sister Delilah’s shadow... and pretty much the whole world's. But her life falls apart when Delilah dies in a gruesome subway tragedy. Fast forward a few months, and Cora is cleaning crime scenes with a sketchy, under-the-table crew. She’s still grieving, still haunted by the past. Then, she starts noticing a chilling pattern: an unusual number of dead Asian women. And bats. Lots of bats. Slowly, she realizes she’s caught in something much bigger—something that blends real-life horrors with paranormal ones.

I wasn’t sure about reading a book set during the pandemic—it felt too soon, too raw. But this story? It needed to be told. Through Cora’s eyes, we see the harsh realities of anti-Asian hate during COVID. The violence, the prejudice, the dehumanization—it’s horrifying, but it’s real, and the author doesn’t shy away from it.

What makes this book stand out is how grounded it feels. Cora isn’t some over-the-top hero; she’s messy, scared, and painfully human. The plot doesn’t rely on cheap twists or forced connections. Everything unfolds naturally, and by the end, you realize how brilliantly the author wove it all together.

If you love stories about revenge, grief, and self-discovery, this book is for you. It’s a deeply emotional read that sneaks in moments of rage, hope, and even humor. And for fans of the "good for her" trope? You’ll love Cora’s journey. I went in for the intriguing premise and stayed for the raw, beautiful storytelling. It’s a haunting, powerful read that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommend.