Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng: A Darkly Funny, Gory, and Ghostly Horror Novel

Kylie Lee Baker

Apr 2025 · Sold by Harlequin

About this ebook

"A compelling, gory, ghostly romp."
—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie

"This is what it felt like to live in New York City during lockdown: haunted, absurd, terrifying, ridiculous, and full of hungry ghosts."
—Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House

In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.

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.

For fans of Stephen Graham Jones and Gretchen Felker-Martin, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a wildly original, darkly humorous, and subversive contemporary novel from a striking new voice in horror.

Ratings and reviews

This book is now officially in my top 10 books of all time. What a beautifully authentic and raw book about the impact of grief, loneliness, racial tension and anti-Asian racism, all taking place during the events of the COVID-19 pandemic. I firmly believe that this book MUST become required reading in university classes pertaining to race, society, global studies and Asian-American studies.

🦇🤩 ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS! 🤩🦇 Alright horror fans! Alright non-horror fans! I may have just read one of my top reads of the year! This book… was something else. The social commentary? 🧑‍🍳💋 The gore? 🧑‍🍳💋 The mystery and thrill? 🧑‍🍳💋

very descriptive but the way the story is told feels awkward and simple

About the author

Kylie Lee Baker is the author of young adult and adult novels. Her writing is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, and Irish) and her experiences living abroad. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing and Spanish and an M.S. in Library and Information Science. Visit her online at www.kylieleebaker.com.