Mizu ni Sumu Oni

This collection of horror short stories includes tales of murder, romance and the supernatural. The title story follows Natsuko, a maid at the Hagiwara mansion who bears an exact resemblance to a recently deceased woman of the household. Other stories include a cat who watches for his master and a ghost, a work of art which leads to revenge through possessed bodies, and a woman who haunts the husband who murdered her but whom she still loves. The mood and pacing of these stories are a kind of Japanese gothic, steeped in the culture but as clear to readers as the passions we all share.