Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker won the Novel category at the 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards presented on July 11, 2026, at Readercon 35 in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the critically acclaimed horror mystery is about a Chinese American crime scene cleaner who witnesses the murder of her sister. The novel generated more than 60,000 ratings on Amazon and Goodreads and was named on numerous best books lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, and Library Journal.
Called “a compelling, gory, ghostly romp” by three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Paul Tremblay, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is about a woman “haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.”
Here’s the complete list of 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards winners, according to ShirleyJacksonAwards.org. Clicking on the titles takes you to their Amazon links where they can be purchased.
NOVEL: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker.
NOVELLA: The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella.
NOVELETTE: “Emily” by Vanessa Santos from her collection titled Make a Home of Me.
SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION: Issues with Authority by Nadia Bulkin. Bulkin previously won the 2024 Shirley Jackson Award for Edited Anthology for Why Didn’t You Just Leave, a book she co-edited with Julia Rios.
EDITED ANTHOLOGY (tie): Night & Day edited by Ellen Datlow and Unquiet Guests edited by Dan Coxon. Datlow previously won Shirley Jackson Awards as editor of the anthologies Inferno in 2007 and Fearful Symmetries in 2014.
SHORT FICTION: “Bitter Skin” by Kaaron Warren from the anthology Night & Day. Warren previously won the 2012 Shirley Jackson Award for the novella “Sky” from her collection titled Through Splintered Walls.
You can watch the 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards ceremony on YouTube. The video is about 37 minutes long. Readercon 35 Guests of Honor P. Djèlí Clark and David Gerrold hosted the ceremony.
The Shirley Jackson Awards recognize outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic and honors the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing.
RELATED LINKS
2025 Shirley Jackson Awards to be presented on July 11 – LIONEL RAY GREEN
Curdle Creek wins best novel at 2024 Shirley Jackson Awards – LIONEL RAY GREEN
Nominees for 2024 Shirley Jackson Awards announced – LIONEL RAY GREEN
LIONEL RAY GREEN 
Leave a comment