Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker is one of the most talked-about recent releases readers keep adding to their lists and it is easy to see why: pandemic-era New York, a string of deaths and a hungry, vengeful ghost.
What it's about
Kylie Lee Baker sets her horror in the anti-Asian violence of the early pandemic, following a Chinese American crime-scene cleaner drawn into a supernatural nightmare that mirrors the real one around her. It is visceral, angry and unafraid, using ghost-story horror to indict a very recent, very real terror.
Why everyone's talking about it
Bat Eater arrived as one of the most striking horror releases of its year, praised for pairing genuine scares with pointed social commentary. It is exactly the kind of bold, of-the-moment horror that finds a passionate readership.
The verdict, for now
If you like your horror fearless, bloody and about something, this is a standout. Come for the ghost story, stay for the fury underneath it.
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