Bat Eater

By (author) Baker, Kylie Lee
Short description/annotation:
BAT EATER follows a biracial woman haunted by both her own inner trauma and hungry ghosts as she''s entangled in a series of murders in NYC''s Chinatown.
Description:

''WOW. This book is now burned into my brain for so many reasons! I don''t recommend you read right before you go to sleep . . .'' ????????????????????

???? ''Haunted, absurd, terrifying, ridiculous, and full of hungry ghosts. This book shook me in all the best ways'' GRADY HENDRIX ????
???? ''Essential reading from a new voice in horror'' BOOKLIST ????
???? ''Gory'' PAUL TREMBLAY ????
???? ''Bat Eater will swoop in like a bat out of hell, swallow you whole and leave no crumbs'' ALICE SLATER ????
???? ''Easily one of the most exciting and unique books I''ve read in years'' ERIC LAROCCA ????

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner. But the bloody messes don''t bother her, not when she''s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train.

But the killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: bat eater.

These days, nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, not her weird colleagues, and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her doorframe. After all, it can''t be real - can it?

After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes that someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

Soon, she will learn . . . you can''t just ignore hungry ghosts.

NEW HORROR FROM KYLIE LEE BAKER COMING 2026 . . . JAPANESE GOTHIC

???? ''A profound reminder of the true horrors that lurk in the world'' TORI BOVALINO ????
???? ''A serial killer mystery and a heartbreaking portrayal of grief'' KIRSTY LOGAN ????
???? ''This book dug its claws into me and would not let go'' LING LING HUANG ????
???? ''Body horror and female rage fiction combine in a powerful novel that will leave you quaking'' ALMA KATSU ????
???? ''A poignant, searing portrait of the hostility and violence that plagued pandemic-era NYC'' VERONICA G. HENRY ????

BAT EATER WAS A NUMBER 4 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WEEK ENDING 09/02/2025

Review quote:
This is what it felt like to live in New York City during lockdown: haunted, absurd, terrifying, ridiculous, and full of hungry ghosts. This book shook me in all the best ways
Review quote:
Baker successfully uses fear, both supernatural and human, to shine a spotlight on anti-Asian hate. Fans of creepy ghost stories and social horror will want to snap this up
Review quote:
Bat Eater is a compelling, gory, ghostly romp, and it''s a righteous battle cry aimed into the racist heart of the pandemic hellscape. You won''t be able to stop turning pages while rooting for Cora
Review quote:
I smashed through Bat Eater - shocking, visceral and haunted by more than ghosts: trauma, rage, grief, racism, crime scene clean ups and COVID paranoia. Bat Eater will swoop in like a bat out of hell, swallow you whole and leave no crumbs
Review quote:
Kylie Lee Baker''s blood-soaked, Chinese folklore-inspired adult debut deftly explores weighty themes of grief, mental illness, collective memory, and Sinophobia (particularly its rise during the COVID-19 pandemic), building as she does to a pulse-pounding finale that will linger long after readers have turned the final page. Essential reading from a new voice in horror!
Review quote:
Bat Eater possessed me from the first page and haunted me for long after the last. The viscera