The Horror and Violence of Racism in Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

 Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng 

by Kylie Lee Baker

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng book cover

Author Kylie Lee Baker (credit Greg Samborski)

Xèxiè  and many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Kylie Lee Baker’s exciting and timely new novel Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I was excited to find this title since the novel uses horror as a framework to examine current issues in society like racism and violence against minorities, especially Asian American women. The title alone is intriguing and led me to request the book. While I was excited to read this book, it’s gory descriptions and psychological intensity exceeded my expectations for the focus and themes of the book, and made the book even more thrilling and entertaining; however, I also recognize that these elements might not be for all readers, so please be warned that the book not only tackles issues like racism and sexism through the lens of horror, but also since Cora Zeng, the main character, is a crime scene cleaner, there’s some pretty graphic descriptions regarding the victims, who are all Asian Americans and mostly women. Furthermore, the book opens in the early days of the pandemic, and Cora witnesses the violent and gruesome death of her sister, Delilah, at the hands of a masked, white perpetrator, and seems to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, so there are plenty of descriptions about Cora’s depression, obsessions, ruminations, and intrusive throughout the narrative. I appreciated the honesty and detailed descriptions, as this made Cora a more relatable and human character, whose flaws and challenges readers may more easily relate to. However, I also know that this might be upsetting for some readers.

This was an exciting and compelling story, focused on two sisters, Cora and Delilah, who are living as relatively recent graduates in NYC. The story starts in March 2020, just as COVID has taken hold of the world. Cora and Delilah try to navigate what would become difficult daily tasks like shopping for toilet paper in Manhattan. As they wait with uncertainty for a subway, Delilah is pushed onto the tracks by a masked white man who refers to Cora and Delilah, Asian Americans, as “bat eaters”, the derisive term that was used to spread falsehoods and blame for COVID. Cora is unable to save Delilah and watches as the oncoming train takes her life, a traumatic event that will continue to haunt her throughout the story.

The story then jumps a few months later when Cora, who was laid off from her art museum position, secures a job as a crime scene cleaner. She works with two other Asian Americans, Harvey Chen and Yifei. Harvey and Yifei eventually develop a close bond with Cora, helping her solve the mystery of her sister’s murder, as well as recognizing patterns in the murder scenes that they clean up. Although they don’t see any bodies, they find that all of the crime scenes are of Asian women and one Asian American man, who is also a police officer. Although the methods of murder are different, they find bats at the crime scene, triggering Cora to recall the slur uttered before her sister’s murder. In fact, the more crime scenes they clean, the more complex ways the killer has worked to incorporate bats into the scene. These sections that detail the crime scene clean up and discovery of the bats are alternately humorous, although grim and gory, and inventive and clever. Baker uses the slurs and stereotypes to evoke the violence that Asian Americans continue to face in today’s America. Although I don’t know the first-hand, everyday experiences of being Asian American, Baker, through Cora’s experiences and the violence that other characters face, presents the challenges and dangers that arise in the post COVID world. The violence and gore is never gratuitous, but rather helps to emphasize the impact that these stereotypes and racism have on people of color, especially Asian American women.

Cora not only faces racism and discrimination in her broader social experiences during the pandemic, but as a bi-racial woman, she also seems to struggle with accepting her identity. We learn that Cora has two aunts, Auntie Zeng, from her father’s side, and Auntie Lois, from her mother’s side. She spends time with both aunts, but gradually realizes how the traditions and practices of Auntie Zeng help her better make sense of the racism and violence of the world. Auntie Lois, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to really understand Cora’s lived experiences of racism, violence, or even the trauma of losing her sister, who is actually more like Cora’s half-sister from another mother. There’s a really interesting and creepy scene that takes place in the Catholic church that Auntie Lois takes Cora to visit nearly every Sunday. Cora has an interesting experience with confession, that is atmospheric and highly realistic to the kind of creepiness that rites of confession evoke. Furthermore, this leads to another opportunity for Cora to “volunteer” to clean the basement tombs of the church. This was another highly descriptive and atmospheric part of the book, where I started to question Cora’s state of mind. As Cora is cleaning, she begins to hallucinate about figures in the tomb with her, and she sees two different versions of the priest who escorted her down to the tomb. Lee Baker used some of the best Catholic horror tropes like sin and evil, as well as death, to create an unsettling experience, but I also think that this continues to show how Cora’s experience with racism and her interactions with a white world that doesn’t really understand or seem to acknowledge the racism and discrimination she faces has impacted her mental state. This part reminded me of some other more recent books by Asian American writers like Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, and White Ivy by Susie Yang. Although Yang’s book is more of a thriller, it still shows how racism and indifference to the experiences of people of color can have psychological effects.

As Cora continues to encounter more and more grisly murder scenes of Asian Americans, hungry ghosts begin to haunt her as well, and one particular ghost, she believes is her sister, Delilah. The incorporation of the hungry ghosts and its monthlong festival was a really great way to incorporate traditional Chinese culture. It was something I heard about, but Baker uses it in a creative and informative manner, creating a truly terrifying ghost that Cora questions whether it is haunting her for not doing enough to protect her, or trying to help her solve the mystery of Delilah’s murder. Cora eventually enlists Yifei and Harvey to help placate the hungry ghosts, and this leads to some interesting outcomes. I won’t spoil the ending, but the novel has continued shifts, and the last quarter of the book really pick up to a propulsive speed, which I couldn’t put down. The first chapter that details Delilah’s murder happened quickly, and the subsequent chapters are much moodier and atmospheric, but Baker does a great job creating atmospheric events while also developing a strong bond between Yifei, Harvey, and Cora.

This was a really great book that uses horror to critique real social atrocities like racism and violence against women and people of color. I wasn’t expecting this to be quite so graphic and gory in the descriptions, but Baker balances this out with eerie descriptions of setting, like empty, cavernous subway tracks and church tombs. She also creatively uses traditional Chinese culture throughout the book, as not only an effective plot device, but also to highlight cultural traditions and differences. Furthermore, I liked how Cora was someone who was struggling with her identity, trying to understand and seek out more of who she was, especially after losing her sister and not having her parents around. It was interesting to learn more about her challenges of developing an identity, and learning more about her Chinese identity, especially in the face of racism, discrimination, and violence. The one question I had about Cora, though, was about her choice to become a crime scene cleaner. One of Cora’s obsessive behaviors, especially after her sister’s murder, was to use hand sanitizer excessively, to the point where Harvey and Yifei notice it and call her on it. Cora also seems to be highly aware of germs, dirt, and other pathogens, especially in her apartment. I can understand how both the traumatic loss of her sister as well as the emphasis on personal hygiene and sanitation during COVID might elicit more of these behaviors. However, it seemed like her choice of being a crime scene cleaner might have been conflicting with her concerns about germs and bacteria. Yet, she also seems to take an interest in recognizing the humanity of the victims, more so than her co-workers. It’s almost like this experience of trying to piece together the victims’ selves and lives that the murder has taken brings her maybe some solace that she lost from her sister. I’m not sure if that was the case, but I don’t really remember Cora’s reasoning being explained that in depth, and it’s not really needed since this was an exciting and compelling book. It’s also not just a horror book, but an interesting mystery that Cora and her friends work on finding who is responsible for these recent murders of Asian Americans. Most of all, I really loved how Baker uses horror to emphasize and critique the horrors of racism and violence against people of color. Make sure to read the afterword since Baker has some explanation about the book and how the racism that COVID resurrected and made more blatant and explicit was a motivating factor in writing this book. Highly recommended.