Secrets of the Dead

Secrets of the Dead was one of the most popular stories collected in the Hyakumonogatari Kaidenkai, a comprehensive monogatari of popular Kwaidan.

Tale
Sonoko was the daughter of a rich Mantis lord who was sent to the Imperial Court to be trained as a courtier. After four years she returned home and married. Sonoko died after giving birth to her first son. In his fifth year, the boy discovered the spirit of Sonoko in the house's shrine, staring into a mirror. Eventually the monk of Kaimetsu-Uo named Daigen was summoned to banish the ghost. Behind the mirror he discovered a bottom drawer with a letter written long ago, which was destroyed after monk read it. Sonoko never returned again. There were several different versions of how ended this tale.