Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

De: Kylie Lee Baker

Narrado por: Natalie Naudus

New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2025
Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Horror
USA TODAY Best Books of 2025
Library Journal Best Books of 2025
Spotify Best Horror Books of 2025
Kobo Best Horror Books of 2025
Book Riot Best Books of 2025
Los Angeles Public Library Best Fiction of 2025
Google Play Best Horror Novel of 2025

"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.

Outstanding

I’m not sure why this doesn’t get better reviews. It is truly devastating and reminds me to be more compassionate.

Wonderfully enthralling

The book itself it so gripping and sad and scary. The narration is amazing. Natalie Naudus is amazing.

Medium

Earth shattering? No. Thought provoking, yes. Unfinished? Leaves reader hanging in for more? Also yes and yes.

Not Quite For Me

I love Baker's writing, and I adored "Keeper of Night". This one just didn't do it for me. While the inherent f*ed-up-ness I know and love from Baker was very much present in this book, I struggled to connect with Cora's insecurities and her general lack of personality. The setting and the anti-Asian sentiment felt heavy-handed, too. Given my recollection of the news around the pandemic, I know this didn't come out of a vacuum, and I suspect life in America's big cities (and cities outside the US) was/is often this colored with hate, I just think it was ham-fisted in this story. However, I'm not of Asian descent, so my opinion counts for little on the topic. The concept of hungry ghosts was awesome and new to me; I'll be researching this facet of Chinese culture further. It was superbly narrated, too.

PHENOMENAL

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was an amazing ride. Baker has written something truly heart wrenching. I want to write an entire essay on how truly beautiful, heartbreaking, and terrifying this book managed to be. I had to take a couple breaks due to how heavy it could get. Phenomenal piece of art, and the performance of the narrator was top notch. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️