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Hodder & Stoughton is "leading the socially conscious horror trend" with a "blood-soaked" first horror novel, Bat Eater, from bestselling fantasy author Kylie Lee Baker.
Commissioning editor Natasha Qureshi acquired UK and British Commonwealth rights, including audio, for the horror thriller from Nora Rawn, rights manager at Harlequin, HarperCollins US. North American rights were bought by Leah Mol, assistant editor at MIRA Books, from Mary C Moore at Aevitas Literary Agency.
MIRA Books and Hodder will collectively publish the "propulsive horror" in January 2025.
Hodder added: "Pitched for fans of Mexican Gothic and She Is a Haunting, Bat Eater is set during the Covid-19 pandemic, when racial aggression toward the East Asian community was at an all-time high.
"The novel follows Cora, a biracial East-Asian American crime scene cleaner, who is reeling from the trauma of witnessing her sister’s brutal murder. Soon, Cora begins investigating a series of murders in Chinatown after discovering bat carcasses amongst the bodies of East Asian women."
Back in April, The Bookseller revealed a record-breaking boom in horror—Nielsen BookScan reported 2023 as the biggest year since accurate records began for the Horror & Ghost Stories category, up 54% year-on-year by value to £7.7m. "Given the success this new wave of horror is experiencing, Hodder is strategically publishing Bat Eater right into this subgenre [of social conscious horror] with a bang," Hodder said.
The novel has secured blurbs from multiple bestselling authors such as Alice Slater, Alma Katsu, Eric LaRocca and Paul Tremblay, who called it "a righteous battle cry aimed into the racist heart of the pandemic hellscape".
Qureshi commented: "Bat Eater is leading Hodder & Stoughton’s efforts to support more socially conscious horror that deals with issues of racist street harassment, feminine rage and the brutal violence experienced by marginalised communities. Bat Eater’s cutting humour and charming cast of characters make the story compulsively readable, and the voice feels fresh and singular.
"This is exactly the kind of horror I want to champion—a dark omen of our times as generations of diaspora continue to witness first-hand the evolution of imperialism, white supremacy and political ineptitude that fails to protect marginal communities. If I can use my commissioning power to support voices that reflect that community, then I know I’m doing something right."
Mol added: "From the first line of Bat Eater, the voice of this novel shines bright. This is an important book, a necessary book, and it’s also a fun one—Kylie expertly balances gore, ghost stories, and dark humour. Bat Eater feels refreshingly original, and working with Kylie has been a career highlight."
Baker, who has published previous fantasy novels with HarperCollins, commented: "Horror is what made me love reading when I was a kid, so I’m thrilled to get to publish my début horror novel with such supportive teams. As an Asian American, I aimed to capture the fear and uncertainty of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"At its heart, horror is about slaying the evil creatures that symbolise our fears, but what do you do when you’re the monster people think they have to exorcise? That’s the question I tried to answer in Bat Eater, while still creating a fun horror story with all the blood and terror that made me love the genre in the first place."
Baker was born in Boston and has since lived in Atlanta, Salamanca and Seoul.