This review originally appeared in New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine Issue #6, released on December 7, 2025.

Profane Altars: Weird Sword & Sorcery

Edited by Sam Richard – Weirdpunk Books – June 15, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Profane Altars marks the first Sword & Sorcery anthology released by Minneapolis-based weird horror and splatterpunk specialty press Weirdpunk Books. In his Introduction, editor Sam Richard acknowledges that Sword & Sorcery fiction is a departure from the publisher's usual output, but professes a lifelong love for the genre sparked by '80s barbarian movies. Given Richard's professional network, it is perhaps no surprise that the contributors to this volume are primarily horror writers. Sword & Sorcery has blended horror with fantasy since its earliest days, however, so the admixture here is not particularly jarring. Tanith Lee and Karl Edward Wagner are cited as inspirations in the book's promotional copy, and that distinctive flavor of S&S dominates Profane Altars.

The anthology opens with “Two Mothers” by Emma Alice Johnson. In this story, aging swordswoman Lorai straps on her harness and sword one last time to deal with an infant-snatching menace afflicting her village. While S&S readers tend to expect propulsive action, this moody dark fantasy story adopts a decidedly measured pace. The reader is made to feel the weight of Lorai's age and her sense of weary resignation as she embarks on her final mission. While the atmosphere is exquisite, the story is marred by a confusing editing mistake where the feudal title “baron” is inserted on two occasions when “barren” is intended. Infertility is a crucial plot point, making the error especially regrettable.

Adam Smith's “Maybe Just Us” is a grimdark tale of a well-meaning squire in service to the fanatical Haloed Knights. When Ella intervenes in a desperate battle, a violation of the laws of war, his master must pay a harsh penalty. While packed with vivid detail, the language also has an ugly, off-putting rhythm to it. This story didn't work for me, but fans of Warhammer 40,000-style fanatic knights and hallucinatory prose will find both in abundance.

“Knight Rumors” by Matthew Mitchell is a series of five vignettes, each describing a single knight: the Badger Knight, the Bean Knight, the Bag Knight, the Banquet Knight, and the Bloom Knight. Despite their odd monikers, most of these knights are described in awed, hushed tones by members of the terrified populace subjected to their bloody depredations. The longest of the vignettes, “The Banquet Knight” is also the most narrative chapter. The titular knight is ordered to kidnap a boy and raise him into the ideal consort for a monstrous queen. The Banquet Knight abducts and fosters the youth, but—for reasons that remain obscure until the thundering finale—treacherously denies the boy the training commanded by the queen. While each of the five vignettes has its own appeal, “The Banquet Knight” stands apart from the pack, with a melancholy and weird tone that recalls Tanith Lee.

Sara Century's “Never Threaten a Spider” is one of the book's more traditional Sword & Sorcery entries. Exiled mercenary woman Viy is sent to the forbidding Dead Man's Bog, tasked with retrieving an enchanted jewel from the tomb of a forgotten queen. This entry benefits from a real sense of place, with the swamp presented as a threat to human interlopers but a sanctuary for other forms of life. The title is unfortunate, however, as it spoils the nature of the primary threat Viy faces. It's also inaccurate, as said spider is not threatened at any point in the story! Title gripes aside, Century delivers an entertaining Sword & Sorcery tale.

“Queen of the Fire Arch” by Charles Austin Muir is another solid Sword & Sorcery contribution, one that heavily emphasizes the sorcerous aspect of the genre. The story is related by Danak, a devoted servant of Queen Kavastra. After Danak proves instrumental in treating the magical affliction responsible for nearly killing the queen, she accompanies the queen's warband on their strike against the sorcerer behind the curse. The longest story in the anthology, “Queen of the Fire Arch” packs a novel's worth of adventure into its 38 pages. It boasts epic arcane duels, bizarre magic, unexpected reversals of fortune, and fun monsters. Ral-Bazure, a body-swapping Shadow Demon who becomes Danak's unlikely ally in the story's third act, makes for a compelling supporting character.

Edwin Callihan's impressively titled “The Song of the Nameless Phallus” opens with a scarred and menacing mercenary arriving at a bordello for an evening's entertainment. Initially wary, Olna—the sex worker selected to attend to the stranger—coaxes him into sharing the tale behind his most recent scar. He tells of encountering a village where the women have all disappeared, abandoning their husbands and children. Following footprints into the hills, the warrior discovers the entranced women dancing and fornicating around a singing chromium phallus placed atop an ominous—one could even say profane—altar. The story develops in even stranger directions from there, introducing cosmic horror elements reminiscent of Clark Ashton Smith and concluding with an intriguing personal transformation.

As with the opening story, “Light from a Dead Star” by Sam Richard involves an aging warrior woman once again taking up arms. After burying her dead lover, Taura hauls her axe and armor out of storage and embarks on a quest for vengeance. Needing a new handle for her axe, she incorporates an antler taken from the corpse of a dead god. A relic from one of her past adventures, the antler plays a pivotal role when she reaches her destination. The prose is as grim and relentless as Taura's journey.

While some entries fall more on the side of dark fantasy or grimdark rather than conventional Sword & Sorcery, Profane Altars is a worthy contribution to the contemporary S&S scene. Since the release of Profane Altars, Weirdpunk Books has followed up with the release of two zines entitled Profane Sorcery, positioned as a “spiritual companion” to Profane Altars. This is an encouraging sign that Weirdpunk and its stable of writers aren't finished with Sword & Sorcery just yet.

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