Back of Book: 

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. 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.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words: bat eater.

Months pass, the killer is never caught, and Cora can barely keep herself together. She pushes away all feelings, disregards the bite marks that appear on her coffee table, and won't take her aunt's advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open.

Cora tries to ignore the rising dread in her stomach, even when she and her weird co-workers begin finding bat carcasses at their crime scene clean-ups. But Cora can't ignore the fact that all their recent clean-ups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

Soon Cora will learn: you can't just ignore hungry ghosts. 

Book Number: Stand Alone

Genre: Adult | Horror | Mystery | Contemporary | Paranormal

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

A contemporary horror story that takes a look at systemic racism in America during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

After the coronavirus shuts down many jobs in America, Cora Zeng is still needed as a crime scene cleaner. The job is a gruesome one, but it doesn't bother Cora because she's seen bloody murder firsthand when her sister, Delilah, was pushed in front of a train by a racist man. Cora tries to put the past behind her and just survive day by day, but the ghosts of her past begin to haunt her. Literally. When Cora begins to see the ghost of her sister and other East Asian women turn up dead with bats strewn around their apartments, Cora can't ignore the truth any longer. There are true monsters out there, and they want people like her dead. 

Kylie Lee Baker's "The Scarlet Alchemist" series is one of my favorites of all time. Those books are plenty disturbing, gruesome, and scary for a YA fantasy, so I knew that I would be in for quite the ride reading Baker's debut adult horror novel. I was one hundred percent not surprised by how dark and gory this one is, but it was still hard to palate many parts of this book. 

I'd say that there are two major plot points in this one. First, there is the one dealing with the serial killer that is murdering Asian women. Second, there is the situation dealing with all the ghosts that are haunting Cora. Both of these situations have an air of mystery surrounding them, which makes this book very suspenseful and frightening. I was hooked on both of these plot points the entire way through, and I was greatly intrigued to see how they would be resolved. 

The scare factor of this novel was very high for me. Between the looming, greatly frightening ghosts and the horrendous human beings that were willing to do such awful things to innocent women, it was no surprise that the murderous racists with anger in their hearts were far more horrifying. There were so many parts of this book that I felt physically sick during. Some many truly disgusting things are said to and about Asian men and women, and there are even more horrid acts done to them. It pains me greatly that many people see Chinese and other Asian people as less than human, especially during the pandemic. 

There are so many scenes in this one that hit me viscerally and I felt like I either needed to throw up, scream, or cry lots. Many of the heaviest scenes happen very late in the book, so I won't go into details, but pretty much all the scenes featuring the trio as they figured out who the serial killer was had my heart pounding and were just awful to read. They were some of the best written things I have ever read, but man, it was hard to get through despite already knowing deep down in my heart how some of these circumstances were going to end. 

The characters in this one are a little eccentric, but totally relatable at the same time. Cora herself is an extreme clean freak that certainly has a hint of OCD. She's bad at interacting with others and she finds that it is easier to keep things to herself and avoid confrontation as often as possible. I relate to her a ton, which is probably not the best thing, as she calls herself certifiably crazy like a dozen times in this book. *awkward laugher*

Yifei and Harvey are some of the best side characters I've read about in a long time. Yifei is a headstrong, kleptomaniac that cares deeply about her friends. Harvey is a less serious guy who is greatly intrigued by all things gory and gruesome. Put these three together, and we have quite the entertaining crew. Cleaning up crime scenes sounds like a truly terrible job, but doing it with people like Cora, Yifei, and Harvey would make it just a little more palatable. I found myself laughing at these three's antic so many times, and I absolutely adore the found family they have in each other (even if it is one seriously messed up family). These three also have severe trauma and are all facing hate in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they still try to meet each day with a smile on their faces. 

I've already alluded to some of the horrible things that happen in this book, but guys, this one is truly dark. People get their heads blasted off, many people are hacked apart limb by limb, and we see many gruesome deaths (or at least the aftermaths of them) up close and personal. Literally Cora's sister head explodes on page one. The blood and gore itself would be hard enough to palate but knowing all these things are done from a place of extreme hate based solely on one's ethnicity is so, so hard to consume. This is the type of book that makes your stomach turn, forces you to jump at shadows, and has you bawling like a baby at the awfulness of your fellow human beings. People are sick, and I'll never understand why people can't just act like decent human beings. 

It has been a long time since a story has affected me this strongly. The messages about hate crimes, racism, sexism, police prejudices, and political coverups are super hard to read about, but super-duper important. I hate looking at things such as this and seeing that we really aren't acting any different than we did during World War II when white Americans targeted Japanese folks and locked them up in internment camps just for existing. I know this book and these characters will stick with me forever, and I will definitely have to get a copy for my shelf so I can look at it and remember just how unfair the world is.

Another thing I wanted to talk about before I go, is just how severely that the internet can strengthen negative movements, too. Yes, it does a great job of connecting people, but it can also connect the most awful people in the world who live to see others suffer. The way that Baker used the internet in this novel caught me completely off guard and it had me practically shaking in my boots and choking on my own snot at the same time. 

Overall, "Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng" may be my favorite read of the year. It was seriously one of the most touching, thought-provoking novels I have ever read. It was also greatly disturbing, filled to the brim with gore and violence, and will probably give me nightmares for weeks. However, it isn't often that a book makes one laugh and cry but also fills one with dread and despair at the same time. This one was really hard to consume, but I know I'll read it again and again in my lifetime; the messages are just too important. Racism and violence are things that aren't going away anytime soon, and this paranormal horror novel that stars a racist serial killer does a great job of searing this reminder into my brain. I can't wait to read more of Baker's work, and I'm especially excited (but also terrified) to read her next horror book, "Japanese Gothic." 

Audiobook Note: Natalie Naudus absolutely slayed with this one. They handle such dark subject matter with such grace, and they did an amazing job of ramping up the suspense at all the right moments. They also did such a good job with all the voices. The Chinese accents added a ton to certain characters, and they did such a great job of channeling the venom on the tongue of all those filled with hate towards the Chinese community in the next breath. Listening to this one on audio was certainly a choice on my part, but I think it truly added a ton to the experience. Naudus' performance is probably the strongest I have ever witnessed in my audiobook career, and I seriously hope that I come across more of their work in the future. Overall, I can't recommend the audiobook of this one enough. It is so powerful, and I hope that many more discover it. I listened to it on Hoopla if that helps anyone! 

Back of Book: 

During a business visit to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania, a young English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count's transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth. Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula's grim fortress, but a friend's strange malady—involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds—initiates a frantic vampire hunt. 

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Paranormal 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

A timeless, terrifying tale of one man's obsession to create life—and the monster that became his legacy.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Science Fiction 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

In Gold Creek, Michigan, legend has that the ghost of a local grave digger still walks the cemetery, swinging his shovel, looking for his next victim to bury. But when the town’s wealthy undertaker dies, his estranged daughter must contend with the ghosts that haunt her own family... 

After she left home at seventeen, River Gold swore she would never return to Gold Creek. Growing up at the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens was a nightmare. Classmates constantly teased her for being part of the “Ghoul” family, while her own family denied that she was actually a Gold. Her father, undertaker Gregory Gold, certainly never acted like a father. He was far more interested in profiting off other people’s tragedies. But now Gregory has died. And River has surrendered to her mother, Fiona’s, pleas that she come back for his funeral.

But the mourning period is cut short when it’s revealed that Gregory died of poisoning—and Fiona is arrested for his murder. Clearly, Fiona, his third wife and the funeral home’s cosmetologist, is being framed. There are plenty of more likely suspects, and River is determined to prove her mother’s innocence. That she’ll have to work with the sheriff—her high school enemy—is a small price to pay.

With a fortune at stake, River is sure the killer lies among Gregory’s first two wives, their children, and grandchildren. Yet soon, other discoveries will be made, and longstanding secrets unearthed. But when teenagers start disappearing from the cemetery, the danger hits closer to home than River imagined possible. Drawn back into the lives—and lies—of the Golds—she’ll have to use her every resource to keep herself, and her loved ones, safe.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Mystery | Thriller 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 

A spooky thriller set in a small Michigan town featuring a crematorium, a mysterious grave digger, and the murder of a the leader of a dynasty that deals in death. 

Sixteen years ago, River swore that she would never return to her hometown or the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in which she was raised. But when Gregory Gold I, the head of the household and her father, dies from mysterious causes, River has no choice but to return to Gold Creek to support her mother. With Gregory's massive amount of wealth at stake, River is convinced that one of the members of the Gold family is to blame for Gregory's murder. The longer she stays in Gold Creek, the more deadly secrets that come to light. Inside the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, no member of the Gold family is safe when the family business is up for grabs. 

I found the beginning of this book to be pretty interesting. It took a bit of time to wrap my head around the entire family (I am really grateful for the family tree that was included in the front of this novel), but I eventually got it down. The set up of the funeral home and the family estate was extremely suspicious from the start, but I found it very entertaining trying to figure out who would benefit the most from Gregory I's death. There was so many characters that for the longest time it was near impossible to even warrant a guess, but things become more clear with time and I was pretty much set on the fact that certain characters were guilty. 

The subplot that follows River and her ex-boyfriend, Michael, was pretty interesting. The cop who is investigating the murder is River's estranged boyfriend's brother, which made for a very interesting dynamic. River's daughter, Sarah, and Luke's son, Jackson, also have a bit of a thing, which is a tad weird due to the close relations of their families, but I did really enjoy how those two interacted with one another. Jackson has went through many traumatic events, and seeing Sarah help him through all the new turmoil was sweet. 

The reveals in this one weren't super shocking when it comes to who was doing certain things, but it was quite alarming the lengths that some of the Golds were willing to take. Many of the scenarios that pan out in this book are very close to incest, which I found greatly disturbing, especially due to the fact that literally three different incidents occur throughout this book that are waaaaay too close to family members sleeping with each other. I don't think any of them are technically related, but man is the Gold family messed up. All these incidents most definitely soured this book a bit for me, but it added a shock factor that I didn't see coming. I feel like I would be remiss not to warn about this in the review though. 

Also, the epilogue was super confusing. I'm not sure exactly what seeing this scene did to add to the story except I guess reveal a certain character's dark secret. I'm almost positive I know who the Gravedigger is, but the book didn't make it one hundred percent clear. The epilogue was certainly creepy as heck, so I guess it did a good job of not letting the reader down easy at the end of this book. Still, why? 

Overall, "The House by the Cemetery" was a decent horror read that had pretty typical thriller vibes with some shocking reveals that had me greatly disturbed. It reads very much like a dark family drama, so if you like juicy secrets and family members having dirt on each other, I'm sure that would enhance the entertainment value of this book. I didn't love this book, but I found it oddly hard to stop reading about the messed up antics of the Gold family. Not a book I would typically read, but an interesting dive into adult horror nonetheless. 

Back of Book: 

In the ominous, frightening world of Stephen King there are things unimagined, almost unspeakable, working the NIGHT SHIFT: 

Strange presences in Jerusalem's Lot, a town abandoned for generations—and with good reason. No one who wanders there now, after the sun has set, ever comes back alive...

And the hideous growths on the hands of a former astronaut—tiny round and yellow eyes popping through the skin, watching him, not liking what they see...

And the mysterious little girl lost in a fierce Maine blizzard, calling out to her rescuers in a pitiful voice. But she walks on top of the snow—and she leaves no tracks...

And the grim-faced children in a Midwest town where no one seems to live past the age of nineteen...

And the vermin in the second sub-cellar of the old mill—abandoned to darkness for a hundred years and now assuming shapes and sizes nature never intended them to take...

And the giant folding and steam pressing machine in the Blue Ribbon Laundry—an impressive and reliable piece of equipment, until it gets its first taste of human blood...

Note: This anthology includes. . . 

"Jerusalem's Lot" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Graveyard Shift" 🌟🌟🌟 

"Night Surf" 🌟🌟🌟 

"I Am the Doorway" 🌟🌟🌟 

"The Mangler" 🌟🌟🌟 

"The Boogeyman" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Gray Matter" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Battleground" 🌟🌟 

"Trucks" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Sometimes They Come Back" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Strawberry Spring" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Ledge" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Lawnmower Man" 🌟🌟 

"Quitters, Inc." 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"I Know What You Need" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Children of the Corn" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Last Rung on the Ladder" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Man Who Loved Flowers" 🌟🌟 

"One for the Road" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Woman in the Room" 🌟🌟 

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Science Fiction | Fantasy | Contemporary | Short Stories 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

(Note: I individually ranked the stories above, but collectively, I gave Night Shift four stars.) 

Back of Book: 

A tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Paranormal 

Review: 🌟🌟