For October 16
Plot:
Two young gentlemen (so to speak) are returning from Canterbury quite drunk and obnoxious. The reader gets the impression they annoy even their horses with their attempts at singing.
They’ve miscalculated, however. A storm blows up. Nothing to worry about. Sir Edward Crediton is the local landowner, and one of his tenants will put them up whether they want to or not.
About the time the rain comes, they arrive at the cottage of elderly Goody Boyle and barge in, demanding shelter. Goody Boyle is not happy to see them, for she knows what kind of people her guests are but dare not refuse them because, as her landlord, Sir Edward could turn her out in a heartbeat—and he’s mean enough to do it.
While Crediton and his companion Sir Nicholas Bateup express their gratitude to Goody Boyle with terms like “trollop,” “curst witch,” and “ugly slut,” they learn that the two candles she has set out are for a recently deceased person.
He’s not a relative of their hostess but one Richard Horne, with whom Sir Edward has history. Horne pursued his wife, and he threw him out into the wilds.
Goody has to leave them to see about the burial and find his friends. Yes, he had friends.
“That is, gentles, if you care to remain alone with the body of Robert Horne.”
Yeah, yeah, no problem.
She leaves.
Ned gets an idea. Why should Robert have all the fun? Ned will lie under his sheet. When the mourners come in, he’ll sit up and scare the living daylights out of them. What a great prank.
Horne’s body? They pitch it into a patch of hemlock, or, as it’s known in these parts, kecksie.
Whatever could go wrong?
Thoughts:
This is a nice bit of gothic-ish horror, set in the 17th (?) century, with the open landscape and the storm coming up from nowhere. Sir Edward calls Goody Boyle a witch and says the devil’s “phiz” (face) has been seen through the windows of her cottage before they enter. Is she a witch? She warns the two young men abusing the hospitality of her home that Horne was a strange man.
“There was no parson or priest to take the edge off his going, or challenge the fiends who stood at his head and feet,” she says.
The men do not heed her warnings and pay a heavy price. There is some justice to that, even if the punishment far outweighs the crime. Innocents also pay, which only adds to the horror.
The story is an old-timey pulp tale. The author does not explain everything. Black magic, vengeance, and maybe even the devil are involved. What more does a reader need?
This is an enjoyable little tale, but I wouldn’t call it great.
Bio: Marjorie Bowen (legal name Gabrielle Margaret Vere Campbell Long) (1885-1952) was a prolific British author of horror, historical fiction, mystery, and crime fiction under various pseudonyms. After her father left the family, she turned to writing to help support her mother and sister (the Encyclopedia of Fantasy refers to them as “extravagant.”) and later her own children.
The story can be listened to here: (37:21)
The website also has the text.
Title: “Kecksies”
Author: Marjorie Bowen (legal name Gabrielle Margaret Vere Campbell Long) (1885-1952)
First published: Regent Magazine, January 1925
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
That sounds like a good and intriguing story that I have not come across before. You wrote an honest and very helpful review and overview of the story.
Thanks for the kind words. It is an interesting story.