"The Seven-Locked Room" by J. D. Kerruish (first published in Keep on the Light, edited by Chrstoine Campbell Thomson, 1933; reprinted in The Not at Night Omnibus, 1937; and still later in the British paperback More Not at Night, 1961)
Selwyn & Blount's horror anthology series Not at Night, edited by Christine Campbell Thomson, ran for eleven volumes from 1925 to 1936 There was also one omnibus of collected stories and, in the early 60s, three paperback compilations Its remarkable success inspired rival publisher Philip Allan to issue The Creeps Library, which included thirteen anonymously edited (by Charles Birkin) anthologies from 1934 to 1936, as well as a few independent collections and novels. The Not at Night series contained a total of 170 stories, an even 100 of which were reprinted from America's Weird Tales magazine; H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard both had their first hardcover (as well as British) appearances in the series.
Keep on the Light was the ninth volume in the series and contained fifteen stories, seven from Weird Tales; authors represented included Henry S. Whitehead, Robert E. Howard, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Hugh B. Cave, and Clark Ashton Smith,
"The Seven-Locked Room" is an odd admixture of several types of stories. It is a mystery about a locked room, but it is not a locked room mystery. It is a horror story in which the conclusion may be more horrible than a horror story. It is a story of love and cowardice and personal courage. Readers may notice a striking similarity to Marjorie Allingham's Look to the Lady (a.p.a. The Gyrth Chalice Mystery) published two years previously.
Frank Crew has been living in fear for sixteen years, ever since he was ten years old. His real name is Frank Crewkerne, member of a long-title family with a secret. The Crewkerne family has owned Colfe Castle "since the Flood," and within the castle is the legendary Room of the Seven Locks. "[E]very Baron Crewkerne, his heir when of age, the family priest and the estate steward are initiated into the secret of what's in the Room. And that they must visit it at intervals; and the secret is so awful that nobody has betrayed it yet." Some people who have entered the room have gone made, or had their hair turned snow white in an instant; the current baron, Frank's great uncle, "was the worst gentleman blackguard of the 'nineties; and after he was initiated when he was forty and fairly hardened, he turned right around and became almost a religious maniac.' -- such was the awful effect the room's secret had on anyone who learns it Reportedly, no one who entered the room has died, but the horror of what they was affected them forever.. Luckily, there have been heirs in line for the barony ahead of Frank, but he lives in fear that he might one day have to enter the room. Frank felt somewhat safe that, after five years of war, no one ahead of him line had perished.
Then, within the space of a week, the baron, his two sons, his grandson, the steward, and the family priest all died of the flu, leaving Frank the Baron Crewkerne.
Frank has spent years in anonymity, hiding from his family, who opposed his relationship with his cousin Rose, whom he intended to marry once he had made his own way into the world. Now all of those obstacles are gone. Still, he must go through the ordeal of the Seven-Locked Room.
Frank's fear of thee secret of the Room is overpowering. Frank had been known for his bravery -- he won a D.S.O. and was considered for a V.C. for his actions during the war -- but his life-long terror of what might await him in the mysterious room has left him almost paralyzed. In what he considered an act of cowardice, he persuaded his down-on-hi-luck friend Charlie Peto to become his steward. According to legend, only the first uninitiated person to enter the room suffers whatever fate awaits; Frank planned for Peto to enter the Room first. For his part, Charlie Peto was willing to risk anything because he sorely needed the money. At the last minute, however, Frank overcame his fear and was the first to enter the Room...
and faced something far more terrible than mere horror.
An interesting tale of an ancient legend and curse and the courage needed to face what cannot be avoided.
Jessie Douglas Kerruish (1884-1949) was a British writer whose first books were mid-eastern fantasies. She is best known for the classic werewolf novel The Undyng Monster (1922; film 1942). She had four stories printed in the Not at Night s99eries
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