Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is available on Audible as a 8 hrs 47 mins unabridged audiobook, narrated by Natalie Naudus.
Publisher’s Summary
New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2025
2025 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel
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
Narrated by Audie and Earphones Award winner Natalie Naudus
“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.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 8 hrs 47 mins
- Publisher: MIRA
- Release year: 2025
- Audible category: Literature & Fiction / Horror / Ghosts
Listener Ratings
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng holds an average listener rating of 4.3/5 from 565 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.7/5
- Story: 4.3/5
- 5-star ratings: 58% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
3/5 stars — “racism as a scary monster”
3.5 stars for Bat Eater. This book was on so many "best of" horror lists I had to check it out. Unfortunately, it was more about racism during the pandemic than anything else, and although that is a scary thing – it was not what I was expecting. I did find it entertaining but it just wasn’t jump scary. I thought the writing was solid, though, and the author’s integration of the pandemic as a both literary monster and metaphysical one was so clever! I just went in with really high expectations and didn’t personally find it terrifying which is what I always hope for in a "horror" book. The Chinese cultural aspect was great, though. I think if you go into this book expecting more of a cultural/socio/political monster you will be afraid.— Maryanne T., Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Fantastic “
Creepy, gory, heart wrenching, funny, thoroughly entertaining. I binged the whole thing in a few days.— Lindsey Collins, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Favorite book of the year “
Scary, sad, and still an exciting and entertaining adventure. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a pandemic story, but this gets it just right.— Valerie K, Audible listener
For full pricing and the 30-day Audible free trial offer, see the link on this page.
